TOBACCO . . . PANDORA'S BOX?

A mysterious, unmarked box of papers received by a university last year may now make life uncomfortable for a few tobacco executives. Thursday, a San Francisco judge ruled that that the University of California San Francisco may release the documents, which reportedly showthat cigarette companies knew for decades that a link existed between smoking and cancer. Brown & Williamson tobacco company had claimed the papers were stolen and demanded their return. But Superior Court Judge Stuart Pollack wondered why the firm was so anxious: many of the documents, he noted, had already surfaced in congressional hearings and suits against tobacco companies by four states seeking to recover costs of health care arising from smoking.