A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

were a young man and a young woman who fired semi-automatic weapons into the cro

wd at 1 a.m. , according to a San Marino High School student who was wounded in 

the fusillade . `` It was a gang thing , '' the wounded student told reporters w

hen he returned to the house with his parents Sunday afternoon . `` I don't want

 any pictures . I don't want any identification because I 'm afraid of retaliati

on . `` I 've just seen one of my friends shot in the intestines , and one was s

hot in the chest . And we 're all very scared . '' About 100 students had shown 

up at the party , an `` End of the Year Jam '' that charged $ 2 at the door . Fl

yers advertising the event said it would run `` from 7:30 to whenever the pigs c

ome . '' The high school student who was wounded at the party and asked that his

 name not be used described the moment : `` I thought I was going to die because

 it was just rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat . They didn't say anything . I just heard my 

friends yell , ` Duck ! Duck ! ' There were eight of us all in a row , and we al

l got shot . '' The young man described an argument at the party between the dis

c jockey and several people , two of whom later came back shooting . After the g

uests argued with the disc jockey , they reassured others that `` everything was

 OK , '' the teen-ager said . `` But they were just fooling us . They were setti

ng us up for the slaughter . '' Deputies said between eight and 12 suspects , wh

o had left the party after the dispute , returned in three separate cars . The t

wo who did the shooting went into the back yard , armed with semi-automatic weap

ons , and `` opened fire at the partygoers , spraying the exterior and the inter

ior of the house , '' a deputy said . No arrests had been made as of midday Sund

ay . The suspects were described as `` predominantly Asian males and females . '

' The wounded student and several friends were playing cards in the back yard ``

 when all of a sudden they came back . '' He said the man carried what he though

t was an AK-47 assault rifle , and the young woman with him had a pistol . As th

e pair were shooting , deputies said , other suspects were damaging cars parked 

in front of the home . ( Optional add end ) San Marino residents pride themselve

s on their good school system and manicured lawns . The community , founded by o

ld California families southeast of Pasadena , has become home to a new Asian-Am

erican gentry virtually overnight . An American-born real estate agent of Asian 

descent described the community two years ago as being `` like Beverly Hills to 

Asians . '' The city is the birthplace and boyhood home of WWII tank commander G

en. George S. Patton and home to the Huntington Library , which houses a renowne

d collection including Thomas Gainsborough 's `` Blue Boy , '' Thomas Lawrence '

s `` Pinkie , '' a Gutenberg Bible , a manuscript of Chaucer 's `` Canterbury Ta

les , '' and many other works of art and literature .

 LOS ANGELES Times Mirror Co. confirmed Sunday that it has agreed to spin off it

s cable operations into a new venture with Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises Inc. fo

r $ 2.3 billion as part of a long-term strategy to become a major player in prov

iding information services for the digital age . Cox will manage the cable compa

ny created under the deal , which will become the nation 's third-largest , with

 3.1 million subscribers . Times Mirror 's shareholders will retain 20 percent o

f the new company . In addition , Times Mirror will receive about $ 932 million 

worth of Cox Cable 's common stock , and Cox will also assume $ 1.364 billion in

 new Times Mirror debt . Times Mirror plans to use at least part of the proceeds

 to develop new programming ventures . As part of the strategy , it will form a 

partnership with Cox to develop new cable TV channels to be carried over the com

bined systems . At a time of on-again , off-again media mergers when companies a

re struggling to deal with technological changes that could dramatically alter t

he way consumers receive information Times Mirror in effect has decided to divid

e itself in two . The move separates the production of information which has tra

ditionally been the company 's core business from its delivery . `` You come to 

a fork in the road where you have to decide what to do with your business , and 

we took the content side , '' said Times Mirror Chairman and Chief Executive Rob

ert F. Erburu. `` Our feeling is that in order to be successful in cable you hav

e to get a lot bigger , and to do that would have interfered with our intention 

to focus on content . '' With the cable business consolidated under Cox , the pu

blishing giant will turn its attention to new ways of leveraging its existing as

sets : the Los Angeles Times , Newsday and New York Newsday , The Baltimore Sun 

, The Hartford Courant and some smaller papers ; consumer magazines such as Popu

lar Science and Outdoor Life ; a profitable professional and textbook publishing

 business ; and a recently launched television programming division . Concerns a

bout the future of newspapers in their current form is another reason Times Mirr

or is focusing on developing new modes of production and a wider breadth of medi

a . Some analysts believe that most information will be delievered electronicall

y in the future , rather than on paper . `` A substantial part of our business w

ill still be the traditional newspaper business in five years , '' Erburu said .

 `` I don't think things are going to change that fast . But the challenge for u

s will be to build the new businesses as fast as we can because that is the only

 hedge we have against something happening to the traditional business faster th

an we think . '' After agressively moving into cable TV in the 1970s , Times Mir

ror has not substantially expanded its holdings recently . In a statement Sunday

 , Cox said that the Times Mirror systems in Orange County , Calif. , Phoenix , 

Ariz. , and other places would continue to operate as usual for the coming month

s . Cox added that the new company may not go into effect until the start of 199

5 . Cox is currently the nation 's sixth largest cable operator , with subscribe

rs in San Diego , New Orleans and Virginia , among other places . The combined o

perations will form a regional cluster of systems in the Southwest . For private

ly held Cox , the deal signifies a commitment to become a major force in deliver

ing information services and entertainment . The Atlanta-based company , whose h

oldings include the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and several TV and radio statio

ns , has been in an agressive mode recently . Last year , it offered $ 500 milli

on toward QVC 's failed bid for Paramount Communications . The company also trie

d to merge its cable system with Southwestern Bell in a deal that ultimately fai

led over regulatory problems and other complications . At a time when cable , ph

one , computer and consumer electronics firms are all squabbling over what the v

arious forms of delivery systems will look like , analysts have noted that the c

ompanies producing the most versatile programming are in a particularly strong p

osition . To that end , Times Mirror and Cox said they plan to `` explore a coll

aborative test '' to provide an array of interactive information and entertainme

nt services to homes and businesses over a fiber network in the Southern Califor

nia community of Irvine later this year , as many other phone , cable and progra

mming companies are doing in superhighway test-beds around the country . Indeed 

, the company has already signaled its interest in providing information that ot

hers can relay to consumers . In January , Times Mirror joined with Pacific Tele

sis Group in a venture that will offer electronic-shopping services . In April ,

 it invested in Digital Pictures Inc. of San Mateo , with plans to provide inter

active versions of Times Mirror 's magazines and newspapers to be distributed on

 CD-ROM . And distribution of an interactive version of the Los Angeles Times vi

a Prodigy Co. 's on-line computer service is in the works . Still , some analyst

s question the logic of dividing production from distribution , especially when 

cable generated 28 percent of Times Mirror 's pre-tax operating profit last year

 nearly equal to that of the newspaper group , which accounted for 53 percent of

 its revenue . While the newspaper group 's operating profit plunged to $ 107.3 

million in 1993 , from $ 310 million in 1989 , cable 's earnings steadily climbe

d to $ 106.5 million last year , from $ 58.1 million in 1989 . ( The profit figu

res take into account various restructuring charges . ) ( Begin optional trim ) 

The loss of cable 's profits `` is a very valid concern '' to Times Mirror going

 forward , said Douglas M. Arthur , an analyst with Kidder Peabody & Co. . `` Wh

y sell it ? Strategically , having the cable operation might be a great vehicle 

down the road . '' But most analysts believe that consolidation in the cable ind

ustry is inevitable , as the race to rewire the nation with high-speed fiber cab

les requires bigger and bigger outlays of capital . And the consensus is that Ti

mes Mirror got a good price . The spinoff will enable the company to avoid a sha

rp tax bite that it would have incurred had the company sold the cable business 

for cash , and its transfer of debt to the new venture will vastly improve Times

 Mirror 's balance sheet , analysts said . ( End optional trim ) Following the s

ale of the cable operations , Times Mirror said it expects to cut the quarterly 

dividend on its common stock to between one-fifth and one-third its current leve

l of 27 cents . Times Mirror will first spin off all of its businesses other tha

n cable into the new Times Mirror company , and all Times Mirror shareholders wi

ll receive one new Class A or Class C common share for each share they owned in 

the old Times Mirror . Voting interests in the new Times Mirror will thus remain

 unchanged . ( Optional Add End ) The Chandler family , the company 's largest s

hareholder , which through two trusts owns 31 percent of Times Mirror 's equity 

and over 50 percent of its voting stock , will not receive any shares of Cox Cab

le in the merger , because the terms of their trusts do not allow it . Instead ,

 they will receive a new class of dividend-paying , non-voting preferred stock i

n the new Times Mirror , which will be equivalent to their proportionate interes

t in the stock distributed to other shareholders . While many industry observers

 believed the Chandlers ' desire for greater liquidity had fueled the search for

 a cable partner or buyer , Times Mirror executives said the Chandlers were not 

expected to sell their shares . Cox Chairman James C. Kennedy will serve as chai

rman of the new Cox Cable , and James O . Robbins , the current president of Cox

 Cable , will be president and chief executive officer . Erburu has been invited

 to take a seat on the company board of directors , but he said he has not yet r

esponded to the offer .

 ON THE ENGLISH CHANNEL A flotilla of battleships , aircraft carriers , cruisers

 and ferries crossed the English Channel Sunday night on a celebratory re-enactm

ent of the D-day invasion that began Europe 's liberation 50 years ago Monday . 

A queen ( of England ) , a king ( of Norway ) , four presidents , four prime min

isters and tens of thousands of sailors , soldiers and citizens prepared to arri

ve Monday morning on the Normandy beaches to commemorate the massive amphibious 

assault that marked the beginning of the end of World War II . `` Exactly 50 yea

rs ago , at this very time , young people just like you were right here in this 

channel on some 5,000 ships preparing for the most important battle of the centu

ry , '' President Clinton told the crew of the aircraft carrier George Washingto

n late Sunday . `` Imagine how they must have felt , in choppy seas and bad weat

her . Imagine how they must have looked to the enemy when they came across the h

orizon . '' The lesson from that `` magnificent , heroic , almost unbelievable e

ndeavor , '' he said , was `` that if the Allies would stay together and stay st

rong , we would never need another D-Day . '' Earlier the president and first la

dy Hillary Rodham Clinton visited the Jeremiah O' Brien , an authentic World War

 II liberty ship that made 11 shuttle voyages to the Normandy beachheads after J

une 6 , 1944 . It was the only ship that participated in the invasion to also be

 a part of the anniversary armada . After crossing the Channel on the George Was

hington , which was scheduled to moor off the French coast , the president was t

o attend a sunrise ceremony Monday . Then he was to travel by helicopter Monday 

morning to Pointe du Hoc for an address to the U.S. Rangers who scaled that clif

f in the bloody battle for Omaha Beach . His speech later Monday at the American

 Cemetery at Colleville sur Mer overlooking Omaha is to be the climax of his eig

ht-day `` journey of remembrance '' across Europe that has revived memories of a

 time when the world was at war and the future at risk . At mid-Channel Sunday n

ight , a World War II British Lancaster bomber flew low and dropped red poppies 

, one for each of the soldiers who took part in the initial invasion . Ships rep

resenting the 14 nations whose troops were involved at Normandy laid wreaths at 

sea to honor those who died . `` If somebody asks me what it was like , I say he

ll , '' recalled Harry Pickford , 71 , a British Navy veteran who landed at Norm

andy `` about tea-time the second day '' of the invasion . Leaning on a cane , f

aded medals pinned to his jacket , he was one of perhaps 100,000 people who atte

nded a `` Drumhead '' ceremony on Southsea Common in Portsmouth to bless the fle

et . ( Optional add end ) `` You want to come and you don't , because .. . it br

ings a lot back which I didn't want , '' the retired bricklayer said of the comm

emoration . `` But you don't want the next generation to forget , because if you

 know what it was like , you 've got a better chance of avoiding it again . '' U

nlike 50 years ago , when a driving storm almost prompted Supreme Allied Command

er Dwight D. Eisenhower to postpone the invasion , the weather Sunday was clear 

and cold , with brisk winds snapping the flags and chopping the water . The oute

r harbor , called the Solent , was filled with thousands of sailboats and powerb

oats jostling for a view of the warships and the dignitaries . With a boom , the

 British aircraft carrier Illustrious fired a 42-gun salute across the Portsmout

h seafront , and the royal yacht Britannia its decks lined with the leaders of t

he allied nations whose troops had taken part in D-Day reviewed the fleet . Dist

ributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service .

 LOS ANGELES By merging its cable TV assets with Cox Enterprises , Times Mirror 

Co. is signaling that the old rules that shaped the diversified media conglomera

tes of the past 30 years may no longer apply in an era of rapid technological ch

ange in communications . After decades of following a cautious path and staying 

close to its publishing roots , Times Mirror is dramatically repositioning itsel

f as a `` content provider '' for the coming age in which information and entert

ainment will be received over everything from computers to interactive TV 's . `

` The fundamental decision is that we want to focus on the content side , '' say

s Robert F. Erburu , chief executive of Times Mirror . `` That 's the strength w

e 're best able to build upon in the future . '' As Times Mirror executives envi

sion it , becoming a content provider means everything from launching and invest

ing in cable TV networks , such as The Outdoor Channel , to using the informatio

n gathered by its newspapers and magazines for new programming services and idea

s . The emphasis on content also means that Times Mirror does not have to worry 

about which `` platform '' cable TV , telephone lines , wireless personal commun

ications services or satellites delivers the information into the home and can b

ecome a provider to all of them . Times Mirror 's decision to spin-off its 1.2 m

illion subscriber cable TV assets to Cox comes at a time when all major media co

mpanies are looking to what role they will play in the coming so-called informat

ion superhighway , where it 's expected that consumers will be able to order mov

ies-on-demand , play video games and shop electronically over their cable TV . M

edia companies like Times Mirror also face a thundering heard of competition , f

rom local phone companies to giant entertainment conglomerates and computer firm

s , which all want to cash in on ways to deliver information to the consumer at 

home and work . The plan , perhaps most significantly , indicates that Times Mir

ror is bearish about the company 's long-term prospects as a cable TV operator ,

 and would rather provide information that cable firms , telephone companies and

 other electronic distributors can sell to the public . `` It pretty clearly tel

ls you that Times Mirror feels the future of the business is providing content i

nto the business-oriented distribution market , '' said James D. Dougherty of th

e investment bank of Dean Witter Discover & Co. . The company believes , he adde

d , that `` it 's better for Times Mirror to be out of the ( cable ) business wh

en they can get a good price for it , and when they feel the returns on cable ar

e just going to shrink over a long period of time . '' Erburu , however , said t

hat making the capital investments to build the broad-band infrastructure would 

use up Times Mirror resources at a time when it wanted to invest the money elsew

here . Once a diversified media conglomerate , Times Mirror in recent years has 

refocused on its core business of big-city newspapers and professional-textbook 

publishing , as well as making some forays into new media technologies . Such a 

strategy is unusual in the clubby world of media empires , where the conventiona

l wisdom has been that stakes in as many areas as possible newspapers , broadcas

ting , cable TV , magazine and book publishing is the best way to hedge bets and

 ensure growth . The shift in Times Mirror 's strategy also has been accompanied

 by a move away from a family-run business to a multibillion-dollar corporation 

run by professional managers . Although the founding Chandler family still contr

ols more than 50 percent of Times Mirror 's voting stock and have four seats on 

its 14-member board , no one in the family has been involved in the top manageme

nt since Otis Chandler retired as publisher of the Los Angeles Times in 1980 . B

eginning in the 1960s , after it went public , Times Mirror aggressively expande

d , buying TV stations , cable TV systems , major newspapers , magazines , and b

ook publishing companies . The strategy paralleled that of other media firms . I

ndeed , over a 30-year period Times Mirror spent $ 2.2 billion in cash and stock

 on acquisitions and another $ 3.4 billion in capital expenditures . The acquisi

tions propelled Times Mirror into the leading ranks among media companies and ea

rned it a spot as No. 135 on the Fortune 500 as recently as 1991 . But Times Mir

ror 's diversification strategy included a string of misfires along the way . Fo

r example , it eventually had to unload unprofitable newspapers in Dallas and De

nver , taking a $ 65 million charge against earnings in 1991 when the buyer of t

he Denver paper couldn't pay its note . A $ 650 million investment in The Baltim

ore Sun will take years to pay off . A trade magazine it bought in 1987 for $ 75

 million was sold four years later for $ 32 million . And last year Times Mirror

 sold its four network affiliate TV stations at the bottom of the market for $ 3

20 million , only to have the buyer sell them six months later for $ 717 million

 . ( Optional add end ) Not surprisingly , the missteps coupled with the economi

c downturn in the markets where Times Mirror owns newspapers advertising at The 

Times is off $ 150 million since 1991 have made the company 's stock one of the 

worst performers among media companies over the last two years . Although the st

ock market achieved record highs , Times Mirror 's stock price has languished be

tween $ 25 and $ 38 per share since 1990 , far off its 1987 peak of $ 52 . The s

potty record in diversifying a notable exception has been the specialty book and

 professional publishing division , which now accounts for one-third of Times Mi

rror 's revenues and more than half its operating profits and sagging stock pric

e has led to speculation that the Chandler family is unhappy and wanted to take 

cash out of the company . Most of the Chandler holdings in Times Mirror are lock

ed up in trusts that cannot be dispersed until sometime toward the end of the fi

rst quarter of the next century . Tom Untermann , general counsel of Times Mirro

r , said that it is not anticipated that the preferred shares that the Chandlers

 Trusts receives as part of the deal will be sold . Erburu said that , `` The Ch

andler Trusts were solidly behind this arrangement , as were outside directors .

 There 's unanimity among the Chandler Trusts , the management , and independent

 directors . ''

 The proposed merger of Times Mirror 's cable television operation into Cox Cabl

e Communications would create the nation 's third-largest cable television opera

tor in terms of subscribers . Here is a look at the two parent companies behind 

the deal : TIMES MIRROR CORP. . Headquarters : Los Angeles Chief Executive : Rob

ert F. Erburu Employees : 26,936 Major holdings : Publishes five metropolitan an

d two suburban newspapers and nine special-interest magazines . Also publishes m

edical , business , aviation , economics , art and law books . Its cable televis

ion division is the nation 's 10th-largest , with more than 1.2 million customer

s in 13 states . 1993 revenue : $ 3.7 billion Approximate revenue and percent by