Joe Mcginniss

New Jersey has had its share of notorious homicides - from domestic killings by hired hit men to mass murders by deranged shooters. But rarely has it been home to the type of Jack-the-Ripper killings that seem to be playing out in Atlantic City, where the bodies of four women were found last month in a watery ditch. Experts say they don't know why the nation's most densely populated state, cut in half by one of the busiest highways, hasn't been the scene more often of sensational serial killings.

Like the flu, plagiarism seems to be catching. Now it has come to light that historian Doris Kearns Goodwin reached a settlement several years ago with Lynne McTaggart, who complained she wasn't properly credited for passages in Goodwin's 1987 book, The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys. Goodwin said this week that her use of McTaggart's words from the 1983 Kathleen Kennedy: Her Life and Times, verbatim and without proper credit, was "absolutely not" plagiarism, though her deed seems to fit the definition, last we checked.

Joe McGinniss' forthcoming book about Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, "The Last Brother," would hardly be a literary milestone - just another Kennedy book that won't be on display at the Kennedy Library - if it weren't for one small thing. As Carolyn K. Reidy, the president of Simon & Schuster, the publisher, delicately put it, "Joe has taken biographer's license to discuss (read: make up) the thoughts that certain people might have had. " McGinnis is more candid: "This is a biography, not a work of journalism.

Prime time is unusually heavy tonight, what with a repeat of Fatal Vision, the premiere of a controversial telemovie and a surprising guest star on CBS's Cagney & Lacey. For mindless fluff, though, there's Supermodel of the World. EVENING HIGHLIGHTS SUPERMODEL OF THE WORLD (8 p.m., Ch. 29) - No, this isn't a TV show about a giant globe. It's a live competition in which women from 22 countries compete for a $250,000 modeling contract. America's representative will be chosen during the show's first half by viewers, who will phone in (for 50 cents a call)

Despite a 73-55 Tri-County League loss to visiting Swarthmore Academy Thursday, Akiba Hebrew basketball coach Steve Gittleman can see steady improvement in his team's play. "Swarthmore is a great team, but we showed some positive signs," Gittleman said. "We're a young team, and we'll learn a lot playing a club like Swarthmore. " The week wasn't all bad for the Cougars, who on Wednesday defeated league rival Phelps School, 79-62, on the road. Greg Branche led Swarthmore Academy with 27 points while teammates Terry Curtis and Joe McGinniss had 19 and 15 in the winning cause.

The Swarthmore Academy basketball team has been trying all season to shed the image that its 22-2 record has been built by beating a bunch of Tri-County League patsies. But the Knights nearly stumbled against a new team Tuesday afternoon before putting together a 57-point second half to beat visiting Rittenhouse Academy, (0-1) 101-77, in the first game ever for Rittenhouse. "Even though we struggled and played bad defense in the first half, this was still one of our best wins of the year," said 6-foot, 2-inch forward Joe McGinniss, who missed most of the first half with a sprained right ankle.

Swarthmore Academy went to the wire in both the semifinals and championship before turning it on to win the annual Shipley Holiday Basketball Tournament last week. Coach Marty Jordan's Knights needed overtime to get past Friends' Central, 75-67, in the semifinal round Tuesday while host Shipley raced past Woodlynde, 68-15, in their bracket. In the title game Wednesday, Swarthmore Academy broke away in the last 90 seconds to beat host Shipley, 62-57, for the crown. "We played our best game of the year, but came up short," said Shipley coach John Rainey.

After shooting a miserable 50 percent from the free-throw line during regulation time, Swarthmore Academy pulled together in overtime to win, 75-67, the first round of the Shipley Tournament Tuesday night. Swarthmore sank four straight foul shots and 7 of 10 overall, as it outscored Friends' Central 15-7 in the overtime period. With leading scorer Greg Branche on the bench with 5 fouls, Terry Curtis took charge. The junior forward scored 8 of the team's overtime points, with half of them coming on free throws.

Before this year's basketball season began, Swarthmore Academy coach Mark Jordan and his Knights had one goal - to win the Tri-County League. Last season the Knights lost only twice in the league, both defeats coming at the hands of eventual league winner Woodlynde. So far this season, the Knights are on the right track, winning their first five games. Friday they won their first two league contests and got some revenge against Woodlynde as well with a 74-32 victory. The Knights also trounced Phelps 82-32 on Thursday.

The Swarthmore Academy Knights scored 44 points in the first period against Wyncote Academy Thursday, opening up a 32-point lead. Swarthmore forward Greg Branche himself outscored host Wyncote, tossing in 18 points in the first 8 minutes. A Wyncote player, overheard during the second-half warmup, put the game in perspective. "No problem guys," he said to his teammates. "Fourteen three-pointers and we're right back in it. " It was that kind of day for the Lions. The 3-pointers didn't materialize, and Swarthmore (6-1)