1.  Dennis Rodman notwithstanding, the market still rewards niceness: Cal Ripken Jr. will always get more endorsements than Albert Belle.

2.  Denny attributes these problems to an overly ambitious marketing campaign that generated more sales than the company could handle.

3.  Denver International, which completes its first full year of operation Feb. 28, also will make more money than expected, airport officials said.

4.  Denver needs a stronger defensive effort, especially against the run; it needs more big plays and more hitters like safety Steve Atwater.

5.  CUBA-DEMOCRACY (Havana) _ Cubans struggling to make ends meet still say more democracy would help the economy, but they say they still revere Castro.

6.  Cubin describes a legislative agenda that will bring more money and jobs to the state.

7.  Cullen, 36, who missed the entire 1997-98 season battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, quit to spend more time with his family.

8.  Derbort and other college counselors said first-generation students also tend to carry more pressure from their families to succeed academically and financially.

9.  Derivatives are complicated financial contracts between two or more parties where the contract's value is tied to an underlying asset or pre-existing index.

10.  Degussa has scheduled a press conference at 10 a.m. to give more information about its performance in fiscal 1997.