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

tical '' and `` skeptical '' because at the outset , `` I was concerned somethin

g was wrong '' in the FIAU drug trials . Opening the advisory panel meeting Thur

sday morning , Varmus cited the FIAU trials and the recent scandal concerning ta

inted data in breast cancer studies , and said `` the confluence of these two ep

isodes '' had been cause for `` concern about the state of clinical trials in th

is country . ''

 AT&T Corp. Thursday disputed an assertion that one of its computer scientists h

ad uncovered a critical flaw in controversial encoding technology that the Clint

on administration has embraced . The technology , which is known as the `` clipp

er chip , '' is meant to protect the privacy of telephone and computer conversat

ions , while still allowing law enforcement agencies to eavesdrop on suspected c

riminals . The clipper chip , which was designed by scientists at the National S

ecurity Agency ( NSA ) , is being used in civilian government communications , a

nd the administration is urging private telephone and computer companies to adop

t the technology . The standard has come under heated criticism from many in the

 computer community who fear that a `` backdoor '' built to allow legal wiretaps

 also might be used for unwarranted snooping by government officials and others 

. An article in the Thursday New York Times raised another potential problem wit

h the clipper chip that criminals can close that back door and keep law enforcem

ent officials out . It cited research by AT&T scientist Matthew Blaze . But AT&T

 officials said that Blaze 's findings did not apply to the clipper chip standar

d adopted by the federal government . That standard covers voice , facsimile and

 low-speed data transmission . Blaze 's research , which will be presented in a 

few weeks to a scientific group , was examining vulnerabilities with computer-to

-computer electronic mail encryption devices that are under development by the N

SA , said Dave Maher , chief scientist for AT&T secure communications systems . 

AT&T said Blaze was not available to answer questions . In his paper , Blaze con

cluded that the technique he discovered would have limited application for telep

hone calls , but that it would be relatively easy to keep law enforcement offici

als from eavesdropping on computer-to-computer conversations . He based his conc

lusion on a review of a prototype that was supplied by the NSA , Maher said . Wh

ile the NSA said it would review Blaze 's study and consider modifications , it 

said his techniques `` are not practical in real-world applications and are cons

idered to be acceptable risks . '' The NSA statement also noted that there are s

impler ways to prevent law enforcement eavesdropping . Lance Hoffman , a compute

r science professor at George Washington University , said one way might be to b

uild another layer of encryption around the clipper chip , a `` super encryption

 '' that would keep eavesdroppers out . Dorothy Denning , a computer science pro

fessor at Georgetown University who evaluated the clipper chip standard for the 

government , said the Blaze finding would have no effect on the current standard

s , which are targeted at telephone and not at computer communications . But Hof

fman called the study another `` chink in the armor '' of the clipper chip . He 

and other clipper critics are skeptical about the comments that the flaw outline

d by Blaze would be limited to computers . They said their ability to evaluate t

he NSA and AT&T assertions were hampered by the fact that the underlying mathema

tics are a classified secret . `` This goes to the heart of our criticism that y

ou cannot trust a secret algorithm to grant you security , '' said Jerry Berman 

of the Electronic Frontier Foundation , a public interest group advocating the r

ights of computer users . `` The irony of it is while we have been attacking it 

from a privacy point of view , this research pointed out a flaw that undermines 

the law enforcement side of the clipper chip . ''

 When IDB Communications Group 's stock price collapsed Wednesday in the wake of

 news that its auditors quit in a huff , the company 's 38-year-old founder admi

ts he faced the same basic question over and over again from shareholders : Was 

he a crook ? No , Jeffrey Sudikoff insists , he 's not a crook . He understands 

that he 'll have to prove that , he says , and probably in court ( the sharehold

er lawsuits are already piling up ) . But whatever else people want to say about

 him , Sudikoff has 900 employees , tons of telecommunications hardware and a lo

ng list of clients worldwide to show that his 10-year-old , Culver City , Calif.

-based business isn't some grandiose fraud . The devil , however , is in the det

ails , and that 's why Wall Street let the stock plummet from 14 Tuesday to 7 1/

8 by Wednesday 's close in wild trading . IDB 's auditors , Deloitte & Touche , 

abruptly resigned in an apparent dispute over certain IDB accounting practices .

 IDB says the disagreements are minor . But until Deloitte gives its side of the

 story ( it must , by law , within the next 10 days ) many investors will assume

 the worst that IDB 's books have been cooked . Ultimately , this is probably wh

at we 'll find out : IDB didn't grossly misrepresent its sales and earnings grow

th over the past few years . But in remaking itself from a $ 61 million TV and r

adio signal relayer in 1989 to a $ 311 million international long-distance phone

 company by 1993 , IDB was guilty of too much hype and overly `` aggressive '' a

ccounting . This is a game that small and large companies alike play , and it is

 aided and abetted by institutional investors on Wall Street . They want hot sto

cks , and once the Street identifies a certified `` growth stock , '' the instit

utions and their legions of analysts create high standards for the company to me

et quarter after quarter . If your earnings come in under expectations just once

 , your stock may plummet by almost as much as if , say , your auditors were to 

quit . If , like IDB , you 're using stock to make big acquisitions within your 

rapidly consolidating industry competing with the likes of AT&T and MCI it 's mo

re than a little important to keep the stock price up . Thus , companies like ID

B find themselves in the business of managing earnings . With a sharp pencil , y

ou can adjust and readjust your numbers take a capital gain here , delay a charg

e there to make sure that your quarterly results meet Wall Street 's estimates .

 Wall Street understands this , and doesn't much care , as long as the basic tre

nd in the business is strongly up . Purists may argue that there is only one set

 of accounting rules , and that aggressive accounting is by definition wrong . B

ut the reality is that `` there 's discretion in accounting , and companies can 

be more aggressive '' if they choose , says Bruce Miller , a professor of that t

rade at the University of California , Los Angeles . The role of the independent

 auditor is to make sure that aggressiveness doesn't turn into outright fraud . 

And because Deloitte gave unqualified opinions in support of IDB 's financial re

ports in 1992 and 1993 , the auditors would face potential billions of dollars i

n liability claims if they now were to recant those earlier opinions . `` Do we 

have aggressive accounting and a unique business that has subtleties of accounti

ng ? Yes , '' Sudikoff admits . But Deloitte `` never had a problem with that in

 that past , '' he says . Disagreements about the numbers in 1992 and 1993 were 

always ironed out , Sudikoff says . And he notes , correctly , that it isn't unu

sual for companies and their auditors to have disagreements . When the Deloitte 

partner in charge of the IDB account changed this year , the disagreements , fro

m Deloitte 's point of view , evidently became insurmountable . Why ? Sudikoff c

ontends he doesn't know , because the individual accounting items in dispute don

't appear major . IDB 's president , Edward Cheramy , blames a personality clash

 between himself and the new Deloitte partner . We 'll have to wait and hear fro

m Deloitte . Thursday , some investors felt intrigued enough with IDB 's future 

potential in its international long-distance phone business to bid the battered 

stock up $ 1.19 to $ 8.31 on NASDAQ , in still-heavy trading . Sudikoff says thr

ee of the Big Six accounting firms are already vying to take over the IDB accoun

t . Assuming new auditors can certify that IDB has grown as it said it has , Sud

ikoff says IDB 's course in international long-distance will remain the same : E

at , or be eaten . And he concedes that with his stock price cut in half , IDB i

s as much a potential target now as it may be an acquirer .

 LOS ANGELES When New York businessman Laurence A . Tisch made his first investm

ent in CBS Inc. nine years ago , he was dubbed a short-term player . Wall Street

 expected him to sell his CBS shares quickly for a tidy profit . But Tisch confo

unded the skeptics and is now completing his eighth year as CBS 's largest share

holder and chief executive . Instead of a short-term player , critics now say he

 's a short-term thinker whose miscalculations are coming home to roost . As evi

dence , they cite Fox Broadcasting Co. 's raid last week of eight CBS affiliates

 , and CBS 's loss of National Football Conference broadcast rights to Fox for t

he next four years . These critics predict that CBS 's value will inevitably dim

inish under a protracted Tisch regime . Tisch in Los Angeles Thursday for a CBS 

affiliates ' meeting shrugs it off . `` I think we 're doing the right thing by 

shareholders , '' said the 71-year-old chairman during a breakfast interview . `

` I think long-term , not short-term . '' With understandable pride , he points 

to 1993 earnings of $ 316.8 million , or $ 20.39 per share , nearly double the r

esults of the previous year . Among the networks , CBS ranked No. 1 last year in

 daytime , prime time and late night ratings , in a `` triple crown '' feat acco

mplished only once before in network television , when CBS dominated the 1983-84

 season . His long-term strategy ? To invest in programming . `` We 've built th

is asset ; we haven't diminished it , '' he continued , citing the increased mar

ket value of CBS ' radio stations as an example . The radio properties could fet

ch $ 800 million if they were for sale , compared to $ 400 million or $ 500 mill

ion five years ago , he said . Indeed , Tisch worked hard to turn the network ar

ound , and he won the respect of some of Wall Street 's most prominent analysts 

, who praise his discipline . `` The crazies are not in charge of this thing , a

nd football is the classic example of that , '' said David Londoner , a managing

 director of Wertheim Schroder in New York . By his calculation , CBS would have

 reduced its per share earnings by 25 percent if it had matched Fox 's winning b

id for a four-year package of Sunday football games . Still , the criticism pers

ists . By selling off CBS 's recorded music business and publishing , the compan

y 's remaining broadcast business is hobbled by government restrictions , and vu

lnerable to economic downturns or new competitors . And unlike the other network

s , CBS has not invested in cable television or business overseas . `` His prima

ry asset is getting attacked and he 's got nothing else to draw on . If I were h

im , I 'd sell it , '' said one big media investor who holds Capital Cities/ABC 

stock . But the investor who spoke on the condition of anonymity mused that Tisc

h does appear to relish his status as a network chief , adding : `` I don't know

 how much he likes it as a toy . '' To such talk , Tisch responded : `` How coul

d it be a toy after eight years ? I don't run around after stars ; you don't see

 me at the parties . I 'm not there because it 's a game or a toy . '' ( Begin o

ptional trim ) As a youth in Brooklyn , he worked in his father 's clothing busi

ness and his New Jersey summer camp , then entered New York University at age 15

 . Tisch has a master 's degree in industrial engineering from the University of

 Pennsylvania . During World War II , he worked in Washington on military codes 

. Then , in 1946 , he dropped out of Harvard Law School to invest in a resort ho

tel with his close-knit family . Over the next decade , the family built a chain

 of resorts before Larry and his younger brother Preston ( or Bob ) invested in 

Loew 's Theaters . After the death of their father in 1960 , the Tisch brothers 

merged their hotels with the theater chain and Larry became chief executive . Lo

ews became their vehicle for shrewd investments in cigarette manufacturer Lorill

ard , CNA Financial and , eventually , CBS . Although the theater chain was sold

 in the 1980s , the Tisch family still controls 26 percent of Loews Corp. , whic

h boasted $ 13.7 billion in 1993 revenue . Loews controls 19.6 percent of CBS . 

Although Tisch has characterized his CBS holdings as a legacy to be passed on to

 his family , he acknowledged Thursday that none of his children have expressed 

interest in joining the CBS executive ranks . Nor does he think his brother Bob 

would step in as chairman , if anything unforeseen happened to him . He said the

 question of succession would fall to the CBS board . Like Loews , CBS has no ch

ief operating officer . CBS directors have not questioned the need for one , Tis

ch said . With just one business , he said CBS Broadcast Group President Howard 

Stringer effectively fills the role . The management is lean but collegial , Tis

ch said . `` You don't have to go through channels . '' ( End optional trim ) ``

 We don't have our heads buried in the sand . But you show me the niche where we

 can be successful . I 'd like to see it ! '' said Tisch . Broadcasting , he sai

d , has a `` bright future '' while he foresees trouble for cable TV operators w

ho will have to engage in a price war with telephone companies to expand their b

usinesses . `` We have over $ 1 billion in cash that 's earning 7 percent , 8 pe

rcent , 9 percent . What better security does a company have , than to have that

 liquidity and those earnings that can't disappear on you ? '' he asked .

 If Random House had planned it down to the last banana cream pie , it could not

 have staged a more successful or appealing fracas to accompany the publication 

of Peggy Noonan 's new book . It began with a brief and curious pre-publication 

profile in New York magazine suggesting she was an original new self-launched st

ar in the Manhattan social orbit without ever suggesting there was anything remo

tely original about her or what she has to say . There followed newspaper review

s of the book which were of such heroic savagery that they 'd have been more app

ropriate in tone for the latest self serving drivel published by Richard Nixon o

r Henry Kissinger , desperately trying to secure their place in history against 

such devastating assaults as the publication of H.R. Haldeman 's diaries and , a

s the clock ticks , the more damning revelations that are sure to come from all 

the Nixon tapes still locked up in the National Archives . Noonan , after all , 

was merely a speechwriter for Ronald Reagan and George Bush . She wrote the thou

sand points of light speech into which some White House superior penciled `` kin

der and gentler '' in place of her `` more inclusive '' nation . Then there was 

a counter-flurry of whispering among those who asked if Noonan 's book could rea

lly be as dreadful as they say . And now , that redoubtable enemy of wealth and 

privilege , Michael Thomas , writing in the New York Observer , has flown gallan

tly to her defense with the argument , as near as I can tell , that while the bo

ok may well be `` trite , silly , superficial and dumb , '' it is `` harmless at

 worst '' and unworthy of the volcanic mauling it has taken from Andrew Sullivan

 in The New York Times and Jonathan Yardley in The Washington Post . You 've nev

er heard of Peggy Noonan ? Don't worry , she 's working hard to correct this . W

hat is her new book about ? I haven't the faintest idea because , having sentenc

ed myself to read her first one which served up Reagan covered with syrup and hi

s wife Nancy covered with Noonan 's scratch marks I feel excused . I am strictly

 neutral on its merits , on Noonan 's charms and on the intriguing question of w

hether a dreadful book of no particular consequence deserves the onslaught of cr

iticism that has engulfed hers and , incidentally , ensured both its commercial 

success and Noonan 's climb up whatever socio-economic tree it is she is so assi

duously trying to get to the top of . Anyway , as potential keeper of the flame 

of Reaganism , who 's to say that Noonan isn't a more decorative figure than som

e of the other candidates , say , Patti Davis or Oliver North . Davis ' naked ro

mp through the pages of the latest Playboy and North 's romp from the very thres

hold of the penitentiary to riches and fundamentalist stardom are hardly better 

credentials . Anyway , all three of them say they are right with God . Noonan rh

apsodizes , I 'm told , about her rediscovery of Catholicism . North 's worn-on-

the-sleeve religiosity has given his campaign for the Senate the timbre of a Sou

thern televangelical tent show . And even the buck-naked Davis , between undaugh

terly swipes at her despised mother , tells Playboy how much she appreciates her

 father 's `` gift of faith . '' Put them all in a painted wagon and just imagin

e the evil , the unmitigated un-Godliness , the worldly moral squalor and un-Chr

istly liberalism they can save us from .

 AUGUSTA , Ga. . The first time Jesse L. Jackson rode buses through the South , 

he joined black and white Freedom Riders who worried about white racists shootin

g at them during the civil rights movement as they campaigned for blacks ' right

 to vote . Three decades later , Jackson is embarked upon another bus tour of th

e South , accompanied by black and white aides . Once again voting rights and vi

olence are concerns , but this time the specific issues are black-on-black viole

nce and preservation of majority black congressional districts created under the

 Voting Rights Act . Jackson has preached the `` dual subject of voting empowerm

ent and stop the violence '' on a two-week tour of new congressional districts b

eing challenged in five states as unconstitutional segregation . The legal quest

ion is headed to the Supreme Court . Originally , the bus tour was conceived as 

a means to educate the public about the redistricting lawsuits , including one g

oing to trial next month against the 60 percent black district of freshman Rep. 

Cynthia McKinney , D-Ga. , which stretches 260 miles from Atlanta 's suburbs to 

Augusta 's slums . The tour of seven states , which ends Sunday in Newport News 

, Va. , is being financed by Jackson 's National Rainbow Coalition , the affilia

ted Citizenship Education Fund and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation . J

ackson estimated the cost at $ 250,000 . With crime a pre-eminent concern across

 the nation , the anti-violence message was added to Jackson 's `` southern voti

ng rights tour '' and has often overwhelmed the original theme . In Dallas , whe

re the trip began a week ago , his visit to the family of a 9-year-old boy kille

d while eating ice cream on his porch dominated news coverage . In Atlanta , whi

ch experienced 29 killings in the 31 days of May , Jackson 's plea for peace Wed

nesday obscured his defense of McKinney 's district . `` Cynthia 's struggle .. 

. is in competition with 29 killings , '' Jackson acknowledged en route to Augus

ta Friday . `` You can't keep your credibility and moral authority unless you ad

dress the violence . '' But Jackson maintained that there is a connection betwee

n violence and voting rights . For instance , he said fighting crime and mournin

g its victims have diverted African Americans ' attention from jobs , justice an

d political empowerment . `` On that journey from Selma to Montgomery , if three

 or four of us had shot each other , or there had been a drug bust , it would ha

ve undercut our right to vote , '' Jackson said . He that lawmakers from distric

ts drawn to have a black majority could help address criminal justice issues lik

e stiffer federal sentences for possessing crack-cocaine than for possessing pow

der cocaine . The disparate sentences have primarily affected black drug offende

rs . `` We have to have politicians in office to protect us from the crime of th

e crime system , '' Jackson said . The creation of black majority districts afte

r the 1990 census led to the election two years ago of a dozen black southerners

 , who helped boostthe Congressional Black Caucus to a record 40 members . The r

edistricting lawsuits are a threat , at least indirectly , to all of the souther

n newcomers . Reps. Melvin Watt , D-N.C. , and Eva Clayton , D-N.C. , await the 

decision of a three-judge panel in Raleigh , which most observers expect to upho

ld the remap . In Texas , a challenge to three districts , including a majority 

Latino one , in Houston and Dallas is scheduled for trial later this month . Bas

ed on a judge 's comments at a pretrial hearing , McKinney 's district is so thr

eatened with being overturned when a trial begins here July 18 that her father ,

 longtime state Rep. Billy McKinney , D-Ga. , has renounced his decision to reti

re from the legislature . `` When they redraw those lines , Billy McKinney is go

ing to be sitting in that room , '' he told elected officials and leaders of you

th programs here . McKinney 's district stretches from the predominantly black s

ection of suburban DeKalb County whose upscale demographics one McKinney aide co

mpared to Prince George 's County through rural farm areas to urban Savannah and

 Augusta . `` That 's the thing about these districts they bring black and white

s together in a new kind of relationship , '' McKinney said . `` Previously , it