OTHER NEWS - Oct. 18, 1996

Michael Taylor, the U.S. Department of Agriculture official who ushered in this year’s overhaul of meat safety inspections, said he will leave in mid-November. . . . British media giant Pearson hired Marjorie Scardino, the chief executive of Economist Group and a former publisher, to become its next chief executive. . . . Novartis said it will cut 400 jobs and close manufacturing and distribution at six North American sites in the next five years. . . . A federal judge ruled that Loewen Group’s antitrust suit against unwanted suitor Service Corp. International will be allowed to proceed.