New York Times Upfront back issues from September 2009:
An Indian farmer.(NEWS & TRENDS)(water shortage in India)(Brief article)
Sep 07, 2009 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: AN INDIAN FARMER sits on the dried-up bed of a man-made take outside Hyderabad. A drought in many parts of the country, along with India's soaring population, rapid industrialization, and farms that have turned to water-intensive crops like sugar ...
Brain vs. hard drive.(TECHNOLOGY)(Jeopardy! )(Brief article)
Sep 07, 2009 ... This TV game show is the latest challenge for artificial intelligence. What is Jeopardy!? That's correct! Tech giant I.B.M. is in the final stages of developing a Jeopardy! computer program to compete against humans. If the program wins, it will be a major reap forward for artificial ...
Junk-food justice.(LAW)(identification of Pringles )(Brief article)
Sep 07, 2009 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The question has long puzzled rate-night snackers: What, exactly, is a Pringle? Britain's highest court has now provided an answer: In the eyes of the law, a Pringle is a potato chip. If you're wondering why Britain's courts took a break from robberies and ...
White House mail call.(WASHINGTON)(management of mail )(Brief article)
Sep 07, 2009 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Every day, tens of thousands of letters, e-mails, and faxes arrive at the White House. It's the job of Hike Kelleher, director of the White House Office of Correspondence, to select the 10 letters per day that will actually reach--and be read by--President ...
Climate change culprits?(ENVIRONMENT)(feeding corn or soy to cows adds to methane output)(Brief article)
Sep 07, 2009 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Every year, the average cow belches 200 to 400 pounds of methane, a heat-trapping gas that's been linked to global warming. But changing the bovine diet might help. Since January, cows at 15 farms in Vermont have had their feed adjusted to include more ...
The perils of Wikipedia.(MEDIA)(internet fraud)(Brief article)
Sep 07, 2009 ... When a French composer named Maurice Jarre died in March, Shane Fitzgerald added a fake quote to Jarre's Wikipedia biography. Fitzgerald, a 22-year-old sociology major at University College Dublin in Ireland, says it was simply an experiment to see how the Internet affects media accuracy ....
Does surgery belong online?(THE WEB)(medical advertising )(Brief article)
Sep 07, 2009 ... The point of Shila Mullins's brain surgery was to remove a tumor that threatened to paralyze her Left side. But Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, also saw an opportunity to promote itself--with a webcast of her surgery. Muffins had an awake craniotomy, which means she ...
3 billion.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)(automobile statistics)(Brief article)
Sep 07, 2009 ... 3 billion NUMBER OF CARS the International Monetary Fund forecasts will be on the ...
60%.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
Sep 07, 2009 ... 60% PERCENTAGE OF Twitter users who abandon the service ...
$0.0005.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
Sep 07, 2009 ... $0.0005 COST OF EIGHT OUNCES of tap water, compared with $1 for a ...
2.3 billion.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
Sep 07, 2009 ... 2.3 billion NUMBER OF YEARS scientists say Earth will stay ...
14.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)(perfect school attendance)(Brief article)
Sep 07, 2009 ... 14 NUMBER OF YEARS that Husly Rivera, 18, a June graduate of the Academy of Urban Planning in Brooklyn, N.Y. attended school ....
You're under arrest (and so is your DNA): the government is collecting DNA from people who've been arrested, but are still legally innocent. Does that violate their privacy--and the fourth amendment?(NATIONAL)
Sep 07, 2009; ... Brian Roberts, 29, was awaiting trial in March for possession of an illegal drug. At the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, a sheriff's deputy swabbed the inside of his cheek to collect a DNA sample. The DNA was then translated into a numeric sequence in the F.B.I.'s ...
Mission impossible? Few presidents have faced the daunting challenges confronting Barack Obama when he took office, a first-term report card, and a look ahead.(Cover story)
Sep 07, 2009; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If you think your freshman year was tough, consider what President Obama has gone through during his first eight months in the White House. A dizzying array of crises fell upon the President in his first months: from the worst economic downturn ...
Decisions, decisions: this fall, the Supreme Court will hear cases that could have a major impact on American life. Here's a look at key constitutional issues they're likely to consider.(NATIONAL)
Sep 07, 2009; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PRESIDENTIAL POWER & NATIONAL SECURITY Since the nation's founding, the U.S. has debated how much power a President should have, and how to balance national security with individual liberty, especially in a time of war. But the terrorist ...
Could you pass the new citizenship test? An attempt to 'summarize the basic concepts of American democracy' in 100 questions.(NATIONAL)
Sep 07, 2009; ... For those of us who weren't born here, it's never been easy to become a citizen. And as of October 1, in addition to passing a reading and writing test of English proficiency, all immigrants going through the naturalization process must pass a new civics exam that some say is much harder ...
China' next generation: Jiao Yuqiao, 15 and Chen Qiong, 17, could soon see China overtake the U.S. as the world's biggest economy. What does that mean for both nations?(INTERNATIONAL)(Chronology)
Sep 07, 2009; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Like many Chinese teenagers, Jiao Yuqiao's schedule is dominated by academics. Last May, that meant his school day began with mandatory calisthenics at 7:30, followed by classes from 8 to 4, an hour-long review session, dinner, then homework until 11. ...
America & the draft: a 200-year debate: the U.S. has gone back and forth between a volunteer military and conscription. Could the draft be brought back today?(TIMES PAST)
Sep 07, 2009; ... America may be fighting two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, but 17-year-old Theo Seman isn't too worried about the prospect of a return to the draft--even though he'll soon have to register for one, like all 18-year-old men, just in case it's brought back. "As far as I can tell, ...
Back to the tap? How the environmental impact of bottled water is getting people to give up their plastic.(ENVIRONMENT)
Sep 07, 2009; ... Americans have gotten the message that water is a lot healthier than soda and many other beverages, and the evidence is everywhere: plastic water bottles stuffed into backpacks, gym bags, and all too often, tossed empty on the side of the road. In fact, the United States is now ...
How I made it to city hall: Justin Nickels, 22, on being one of America's youngest mayors.(VOICES)
Sep 07, 2009; ... On April 7, 2009, I was elected mayor of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, the city where I was born and raised. My career in politics began when I was 17 and a senior at Manitowoc Lutheran High School. I read in the newspaper that elections were being held for five City Council seats, and ...
Should assault weapons be banned? A 10-year ban was allowed to expire in 2004 President Obama wants Congress to pass a new one.(DEBATE)
Sep 07, 2009; ... YES Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and I all supported a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons like AK-47s and Uzis, and such a ban was finally passed in 1994. When the 10-year ban was set to expire, many police groups called on Congress and President ...
The babysitter's dilemma.(THE ETHICIST: Life's full of questions; he's got answers.)
Sep 07, 2009; ... When I arrived to babysit for a family whose children I adore, the mother told me her daughter was coming down with a cold. Shouldn't she have warned me in advance? I'm a student and don't have time to get sick. I stayed, knowing this mom needed the help, but my dad says I should have ...
Cartoons.(Cartoon)
Sep 07, 2009 ... I'VE GOT A BLOG, VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE, A FACEBOOK & MYSPACE PAGE AND WITH TWITIER, I CONTINUALLY UPDATE EVERYONE ON WHAT I'M DOING! I JUST TOLD YOU ... SO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? JOE HELLER * Green Bay Press-Gazette (Wisconsin) REMEMBER, HE'S NOT ...
Warning! Climate change debate in progress!(CARTOON ANALYSIS)(Cartoon)
Sep 07, 2009; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANALYZE THE POLITICAL CARTOON 1 What building is depicted in the cartoon? 2 What's going on, inside and outside? 3 What is ironic about a climate-change debate taking place during such violent ...
Democracy, TV-style.(MEDIA)(voting on American Idol)(Brief article)
Sep 21, 2009 ... Winning on American Idol takes more than a great set of pipes: It may depend on the ability to inspire fans to spend hours sending in blocks of votes. Just how big block voting can get was demonstrated by 23-year-old Erika McMahan of Conway, Arkansas, and two of her friends, who texted ...
Which monkey will live longer.(NEWS & TRENDS)(research on effects of lower-calorie diet on aging and life span of rhesus monkeys )(Brief article)
Sep 21, 2009 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: WHICH MONKEY WILL LIVE LONGER? Canto, 27 (left),and Owen, 29, are part of a 20-year study of rhesus monkeys to find out whether lower-calorie diet will slow aging and extend life spans. Known as calorie restriction, the regimen has all the ...
35,000 years before iPods.(MUSIC)(first flutes)(Brief article)
Sep 21, 2009 ... About 35,000 years ago, music fitted a cave in southwestern Germany when one of our Stone Age ancestors took a hollow bone from a griffon vulture, carved finger holes, and made one of the first flutes. Part of that flute was recently found in a cave near Ulm, Germany. Along with fragments ...
Up on a pedestal.(ENGLAND)(Brief article)
Sep 21, 2009 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Trafalgar Square in London is home to statues of kings and generals on enormous pedestals called plinths. But now anyone can be put on a pedestal. A project called "One & Other" is ...
From endangered to pest.(WILDLIFE)(beaver)(Brief article)
Sep 21, 2009 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The humans in Lexington, Massachusetts, are stumped: Beaver dams are causing water to flood the town's sewer system. Trapping the beavers does no good: Others move in. Destroying the dams doesn't work: The animals rebuild them, sometimes within a day ....
No car? No problem.(ENVIRONMENT)(urban planning)(Brief article)
Sep 21, 2009 ... The pioneers of Vauban, Germany, are going where few suburbanites have gone before: They're giving up their cars. In Vauban, a new suburb of the city of Freiburg, 70 percent of families don't own cars, and 57 percent sold a car to move there. The only places to park in Vauban are two ...
Organic internships.(CAREERS)(Brief article)
Sep 21, 2009 ... Erin Axelrod, who graduated in May from Barnard College in New York, spent the summer living in a tent, using an outdoor compost toilet, and harvesting vegetables on an organic farm in California. Jamie Katz, 20, an English major at Kenyon College in Ohio, planted peach trees at Holly Tree ...
Numbers in the news.(Brief article)
Sep 21, 2009 ... $675,000 AMOUNT IN DAMAGES that Joel. Tenenbaum, a Boston University graduate student, was ordered by a federal. judge to pay to four record companies after he admitted illegally downloading hundreds of songs. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES 6% PERCENTAGE OF Americans who ...
What's in a name? Rhode Island is debating whether to change its official name, which reminds some residents of its slave-trading past.(NATIONAL)
Sep 21, 2009; ... Rhode Island's full name doesn't appear on its state flag or license plates. You won't see it on road maps or welcome signs. But the state's formal name--State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations--is a reminder for some residents of the state's prominent role in the slave trade. ...
Under one roof: legal & illegal: she was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child. Her brother was born here and is a citizen: a look at life in a 'mixed status' family.(Cover story)
Sep 21, 2009; ... The father, an engineer, saw no future for his daughter and son in their struggling country, Ecuador. In 2001, he made his way to Mexico and paid smugglers known as "coyotes" to help him sneak across the border into Texas. Then he headed to New York, where his wife and children flew in as ...
Receptionist of the United States: a young Iraq war veteran, Darienne Page helps keep the west wing of the white house running smoothly.(NATIONAL)
Sep 21, 2009; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Have you met ROTUS? It's a question President Obama asks many visitors to the White House. Obama, of course, is POTUS--the acronym used by the Secret Service for President of the United States. His wife, ...
Bombs away? Even as Iran, North Korea, and terrorists race to get them, President Obama says his goal is a world free of nuclear weapons. Six decades after hip, Oshima, is it possible?(INTERNATIONAL)
Sep 21, 2009; ... Early in August 1945, near the end of World War II, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombs killed an estimated 200,000 people and Japan soon surrendered. Sixty-four years later, the U.S. remains the only nation that has ever ...
Are we cooking the planet? Millions of stoves in developing nations in Africa and Asia are a surprising--and growing--cause of global warming.(ENVIRONMENT)
Sep 21, 2009; ... It's hard to believe that this is what's melting the glaciers," says Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a leading climate scientist, as he walks among Kohlua's mudbrick huts, each with a small cookstove that pours soot into the atmosphere. Women in ragged saris bake bread and stew lentils ...
Real questions, real answers: leading scientists give teens the facts about drug abuse.(HEADS UP REAL NEWS ABOUT DRUGS AND YOUR BODY: A Message from Scholastic and The National on Drug Abuse (NIDA))
Sep 21, 2009 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "All my friends try to get me to smoke crack and snort heroin with them. What should I tell them?" "Can you get addicted to drugs after one try?" "Is it okay to be a light drinker?" "Does marijuana really affect driving?" These are just some of ...
Are cellphones killing literature? When everyone's connected 24/7, many classic plot devices just don't work anymore.(TECHNOLOGY)
Sep 21, 2009; ... Juliet: Fakn death. C U Latr. Romeo: gud plan. Conspiring with a distant boyfriend or girlfriend? Send a text. Lost in the woods, wilderness, or a heavy fog? Use GPS. A case of mistaken identity? Facebook! And who is this mysterious Jay Gatsby? Just Google him. ...
1929: from boom bust: the lessons of the great depression are helping the nation deal with the current recession--and avoid another economic calamity.(TIMES PAST)
Sep 21, 2009; ... The recession gripping the nation today has made life hard for many Americans, with an unemployment rate of more than 9 percent, millions of people losing their homes due to foreclosure, and the auto and banking industries trying to recover with the help of an $800 billion bailout by the ...
A wake-up call from youtube: a horrifying video forced Pantea Sotoodeh to focus on what's going on in Iran, her parents' native country.(VOICES)
Sep 21, 2009; ... One day in June, I checked my Facebook page and casually clicked on a t[ink that one of my friends had posted. What I saw absolutely blew me away. It was a video of a young Iranian woman named Neda Agha-Soltan being shot to death on the streets of Tehran, Iran's capita[. She ...
Should Supreme Court Justices continue to have life tenure? Five of the nine Justices are older than 70, prompting questions about how long they should be able to serve.(DEBATE)
Sep 21, 2009 ... YES Stripping rife tenure from Supreme Court Justices would "fix" a nonexistent problem and threaten America's independent judiciary. There is no evidence that Justices need to be forced to retire. Many of our greatest Justices, including Oliver Wendell Holmes and William ...
Candid camera in an elevator? For a research project, one of my fellow graduate students wanted to film people in a campus elevator without their knowledge or consent. I think this is an invasion of privacy. He thinks it's fine because the film is for educational purposes and would never be shown publicly. Who's right?(THE ETHICIST: Life's full of question; he's got answers.)(Brief article)
Sep 21, 2009; ... YOU ARE. Your classmate is obliged to seek permission from the elevator riders. Dalton Conley, chairman of the sociology department at New York University, says, "In all research endeavors, student projects included, informed consent is the ideal. that should be strived for." ...
My family and I arrived at Disney World to find a crowd waiting to get in.(THE ETHICIST: Life's full of question; he's got answers.)(rumors)(Brief article)
Sep 21, 2009; ... My family and I arrived at Disney World to find a crowd waiting to get in. I casually mentioned that it was a shame that one of the signature rides was down for maintenance. In fact, it was functioning, but those around me overheard my remark and began to repeat it. When the park opened, ...
Cartoons.
Sep 21, 2009 ... DENG COY MIEL * Singapore * CAGLE PATRICK CORRIGAN * The Toronto Star (Canada) * CAGLE A DAY WITHOUT (ILLEGAL) IMMIGRANTS RJ MATSON * St. Louis Post-Dispatch * CAGLE JULY 20TH, 1969 IF WE CAN PUT A MAN ON THE MOON ... IT WON'T BE LONG ...
Teacher's edition.
Sep 21, 2009; ... Your students just might think twice about the ongoing immigration debate when they read Upfront's cover story. It's about a family in New York in which the parents and their 22- year-old daughter--who was brought to the U.S. from Ecuador as a child--are in the U.S. illegally. The 17- ...
Analyze the political cartoon.(CARTOON ANALYSIS)(Brief article)
Sep 21, 2009; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] (1) Who are the visitors to the factory, and why are they there? (2) Who are the two men in the factory? (3) Why aren't the men in the factory eager to "help"? What ...
Upfront 2010 hot spots: Asia.(Brief article)
Sep 21, 2009 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Taliban insurgents are threatening AFGHANISTAN and its neighbor, nuclear-armed PAKISTAN President Obama is increasing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to 68,000 and sending more aid to Pakistan. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The ...