However, a five-paragraph statement issued under Howell's name but presumably drafted by Orza contained no such apology.

After much deliberation," the five-paragraph statement said, "I have decided to interrupt my media silence and respond to yesterday's reports.

Yesterday, however, he issued a five-paragraph statement icily discussing viewer confusion and low ratings when F.S.N.Y. has added "overflow" channels to carry second games when two teams play.

Reinsdorf issued a five-paragraph statement about Thomas and their meeting, but it said nothing about the player's contract concerns.

Before the workout ended, a five-paragraph statement from Yao was released.

Mr. Cuomo, in a five-paragraph statement, said of the letter, "I accept it as an apology."

The story led W. Michael Murphy Jr., the Morris County Prosecutor, to read to reporters a five-paragraph statement on the investigation, which seemed to confirm the existence of a ransom demand indirectly.

Oracle said in a five-paragraph statement, released after the market closed, that it was laying off 5,000 employees, or nearly 10 percent of the combined Oracle-PeopleSoft work force.

"WKCR will return donations made during the station's fund-raising campaign in October to any listeners of 'Opera Fanatic' who so request," the five-paragraph statement concluded.

The whiff of change came in the second paragraph of the Fed's five-paragraph statement, the passage often referred to as the "snapshot paragraph," in which the committee assesses current economic conditions.