Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL) articles from December 2002

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL) archives from December 2002

O'Hare Airport Vies for Fast-Track Status on Environmental Reviews.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Jon Hilkevitch Dec. 1--Seeking to whittle the time it takes to build runways, Chicago officials are requesting fast-track status for the federal environmental reviews needed for the proposed expansion of O'Hare International...

Home Appliances Are Hot Gift List Items.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Melissa Allison Dec. 1--It used to be that a guy could get clocked for giving his sweetheart a toaster for the holidays. Now women, and even some men, are requesting toasters and other home appliances as gifts from significant...

Leadership Crisis Adds to Argentina's Misery.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Patrice M. Jones Dec. 1--BUENOS AIRES--The economic and political turmoil that pushed Argentina to the brink of chaos a year ago has been replaced by a simmering mood of disappointment, rage and fear. Most unsettling for many...

Chicago Tribune Auto Letters Column.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Jim Mateja Dec. 1--QUESTION: Have you noticed how many new-car manufacturers are touting free scheduled maintenance services while the car is in warranty? I bought a new 2001 Audi A4T AWD. The first oil/filter change was free at...

Urban Bed and Breakfast Industry Continues to Grow in Chicago.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Kathy Bergen Dec. 1--Chicago, dubbed the City of Big Shoulders by poet Carl Sandburg, does hospitality in a really big way: a big airport, a big convention center and big hotels. But in the shadow of those muscular outstretched...

Business Ethics Issues Remain for Corporate America.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Andrew Countryman Dec. 1--The jokes are cheap, and as plentiful as "buy" ratings from stock analysts. And, sometimes, just as accurate. Indeed, to a substantial, and growing, number of companies, corporate ethics is...

Chicago Tribune Business Outlook Column.
December 1, 2002... Byline: William Sluis Dec. 1--EMPLOYMENT PAYROLL GROWTH: A fitful expansion has Americans looking to the holidays for evidence that the economy's many lagging components, including the job market, are finally starting to pick up. ...

Chicago Tribune Business People Column.
December 1, 2002... Dec. 1--The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. named BETH KEEVE managing director, organizational development, and ANITA S. LISKEY director of corporate communications. Keeve was previously vice president/director of human resources. Liskey was...

Chicago Tribune Binary Beat Column.
December 1, 2002... Byline: James Coates Dec. 1--DSL ALTERNATIVE HOMEGROWN AND CREDIBLE: Our local phone company, SBC Ameritech, is taking on Microsoft and AOL Time Warner by creating a very credible alternative broadband Internet service. Key to the...

Chicago Tribune Ask Jim Column.
December 1, 2002... Byline: James Coates Dec. 1--QUESTION: At 52, my vision is starting to deteriorate. I am a news media professional and use a new Windows PC with a 22-inch CRT monitor. I am looking at an LCD monitor of the same size--which seems much...

Cyber Schools Fill a Niche for Parents, Kids.
December 1, 2002... Byline: V. Dion Haynes Dec. 1--VENTURA, Calif. -- Six-year-old Eric Moll is excited about his new school. He gets to do advanced work, much of it online. Best of all, he can bring his rainbow-colored bird, Dexter, to class and stay in his...

Naperville, Ill., Officials Approve Riverbank Homes.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Barbara Sherlock Dec. 1--The Naperville City Council has unanimously approved a subdivision that will include four homes abutting the West Branch of the DuPage River, a situation that has neighbors concerned about the future health...

Dodge Viper Continues to Appeal to 'Back-to-Basics' Drivers.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Rick Popely Dec. 1--CHICAGO--The last thing a 450-horsepower sports car would seem to need is more power, but that's what Dodge Viper owners put on the top of their wish list. Even after Dodge obliged by boosting horsepower to...

U.S. Recruiting Market Takes Big Hit with Sputtering Economy.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Ameet Sachdev Dec. 1--The labor market is so tough these days that even people who make a living finding jobs for others are scrambling. Heidrick & Struggles International Inc., one of the largest executive search companies in...

Chicago Tribune Business Finance Notebook Column.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Janet Kidd Stewart Dec. 1--With the uncertain job market continuing across many fields, bankers aren't faring too badly on a relative basis. After wrenching layoffs as a result of big mergers in the 1990s, banks are actually...

Specialty Hospitals Pose Threat to Chicago Area's Traditional Facilities.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Bruce Japsen Dec. 1--In a fight between doctor entrepreneurs and traditional hospital physicians, Chicago has become the latest battlefield over who will control medicine's most lucrative surgeries. The tussle centers on the...

Chicago Tribune Investing Column.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Janet Kidd Stewart Dec. 1--The turkey is drying out and the 24-hour salad is on its 83rd hour. Do you know where your investments stand for year's end? Post-Thanksgiving financial planning means more this year than keeping...

Chicago Tribune Jim's Driveway Column.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Jim Mateja Dec. 1--Jim's Driveway is capsules of Jim Mateja's auto reviews that appear in the Chicago Tribune. The digested version of the most recent reviews will replace older ones each week. The vehicles will be grouped by model...

Chicago-Area's Middle Class Labors in Job Hunt.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Barbara Rose Dec. 1--They arrived in nice cars from comfortable homes, a diverse group of 40- and 50-somethings who have run factories, rolled out telephone networks and managed mass layoffs. They all share one thing in common:...

Travel Web Sites Make Changes to Appeal to Customers.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Kathy Bergen Dec. 1--Are you one of those people who go to your local convenience store every week for two gallons of milk, at $1.99 each--and nothing else? And do you wonder why the proprietor is not terribly glad to see you?...

Chicago Tribune New Cars Column.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Jim Mateja Dec. 1--Not fair. Saab traditionally has been bland, if not boring. Purchase a Saab--and a beret--slip behind the wheel and travel 35 m.p.h. in the center lane behind all those blue hairs in Volvos and the heck...

Chicago Tribune Real Estate Column.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Mary Umberger Dec. 1--CHICAGO--Would you rent an apartment online? Apparently most of you would, according to a recent survey, and even the apartment industry admits to being a little surprised. The National Multi-Housing...

Former Chicago Jazz, Blues Neighborhood Undergoes Revitalization.
December 1, 2002... Byline: John Handley Dec. 1--CHICAGO--Nat King Cole performed in Bronzeville. So did Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Muddy Waters, Duke Ellington, Ramsey Lewis and Buddy Guy. Bronzeville, the South Side Chicago neighborhood about 3...

Senator Sets Sights on Old Russian Weapons.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Stephen J. Hedges Dec. 1--WASHINGTON -- With his return as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Indiana Republican Richard Lugar plans to redirect attention to a $1 billion-a-year program to help Russia secure...

Study Shows Consumers Not Buying Less-Is-More Idea for Holidays.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Susan Chandler Dec. 1--It hasn't been an easy year for the Chill family of Evanston. Beth Chill, who sells educational materials to schools, has seen her sales volume decline about 25 percent. Her husband, Bram, recently quit...

Chicago Tribune Small Business Notebook Column.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Rob Kaiser Dec. 1--Many companies have prospered by using NASA technology, which is in products as varied as smoke detectors and bike helmets, but the rewards haven't been distributed evenly among large and small firms. "Large...

Chicago Tribune Ask Jim Column.
December 1, 2002... Byline: James Coates Dec. 1--QUESTION: I am thrilled that you have a small-business section. We are an engineering firm moving into a new office and want to add screens in the waiting area to display our work. We would like four screens to...

Chicago Tribune Technology Buzz Column.
December 1, 2002... Byline: James Coates Dec. 1--UPGRADE SWEETENS MICROSOFT WORKS: For several years, the consumer-oriented Microsoft Works Suite software upgrade package has been perhaps the best single value--dollar for dollar, bit for byte--on the market....

Chicago Tribune Technology Notebook Column.
December 1, 2002... Dec. 1--BIG TALK ABOUT FUTURE OF WEB CONFERENCING: Communication keeps getting faster. Once there was mail that could take days, then came overnight mail, followed by faxes, then along came e-mail and finally instant messaging. What's...

United, Mechanics Return to the Bargaining Table.
December 1, 2002... Byline: John Schmeltzer Dec. 1--Playing what may be its last card in a desperate attempt to avoid bankruptcy, United Airlines plans to meet again Sunday with its holdout mechanics union to try to hammer out a cost-saving labor deal. ...

Time Running Out for United Airlines to Avoid Bankruptcy Decision.
December 1, 2002... Byline: John Schmeltzer Dec. 1--United Airlines appears to have lost another ally in its bid to avoid bankruptcy: time. "What's the point [in waiting]," asked David LeMay, who helped guide Continental Airlines through its second...

Science Seeks Ways to Make Christmas 'Supertrees'.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Judith Graham Dec. 1--DENVER--Each year, Roberta and Arlene Montoya go in search of the perfect Christmas tree in the weeks after Thanksgiving. "It's got to be at least 8 foot tall and full, no holes, nice and green," said...

N. Dame, Marquette share legends.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Skip Myslenski Digger and Al. Now there was a pair. Notre Dame's Digger Phelps and Marquette's Al McGuire. Showmen both, in love with the spotlight, iconoclastic, irrepressible, con men and basketball coaches too. Center stage was...

Mavericks stop Bulls' stampede as Nelson wins 200th with Dallas.
December 1, 2002... Byline: K.C. Johnson DALLAS_With one much-agonized decision, Bill Cartwright increased the average age of the Bulls' starting lineup from 22.4 to 25 on Saturday night. Unfortunately for the Bulls, Cartwright's insertion of Donyell...

Bulls face hot rookie in key week.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Sam Smith CHICAGO _ This week could determine whether the Chicago Bulls suffer yet another lost, meaningless season. Starting Tuesday, the Bulls play four games in five days: against New Orleans (11-5), which they beat in the...

Many jobless as china evolves from communism to capitalism.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Michael A. Lev SHENYANG, China _ At first blush, Tang Yao Xian looked foolish, miserable and desperate. He was waiting in his thin, army-style coat in the frigid morning air, lined up with 40 other freelance truck drivers in hopes...

Number of international students up 6% in U.S. colleges.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Evan Osnos WATERVILLE, Maine _ On the woodsy campus of Colby College, deep in the heart of Maine, students joke about the "Colby bubble" _ the mental barrier that seems to insulate their cozy intellectual nest from a more...

Notre Dame needs a hand from UCLA.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Andrew Bagnato Notre Dame has a new favorite team: UCLA. If the Bruins can upend No. 7 Washington State on Saturday in Pasadena, they would do for Notre Dame what Notre Dame couldn't do for itself_clinch a Bowl Championship...

Miami's stock up; Notre Dame shown up.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Andrew Bagnato CHICAGO_ Two things became perfectly clear on college football's penultimate Saturday: Miami belongs in the Fiesta Bowl. Notre Dame belongs in the Gator Bowl. The top-ranked Hurricanes wasted no time...

Notre Dame clearly overwhelmed and overmatched by USC.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Avani Patel LOS ANGELES _ By early in the fourth quarter, the chant "Overrated" was reverberating around the cavernous Memorial Coliseum. And on the field, the Irish could only listen. What had been billed as a clash of...

Bears struggle to come to grips with 3-9.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Rick Morrissey GREEN BAY, Wis. _ The more time you spend around the Bears, the more you realize that this is a team that has separated itself from reality, established residency inside a bubble and generally seceded from the union...

`Craziest minute of the season'.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Don Pierson GREEN BAY, Wis. _Rod Walker made a snap decision. Javon Walker made a mad dash. Tony Fisher made a name for himself. Three anonymous Green Bay Packers did as much to beat the Bears on Sunday as Brett Favre. It is a...

HEADLINE HERE.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Evan Osnos Tribune national correspondent YARMOUTH, Maine_Once or twice a week this fall, high school freshman Davis Asherman dons a kid-size camouflage jacket, pulls a warm hat over his dyed-green hair, and heads out with his...

Managers, professionals laboring in job hunt.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Barbara Rose CHICAGO _ They arrived in nice cars from comfortable homes, a diverse group of 40- and 50-somethings who have run factories, rolled out telephone networks and managed mass layoffs. They all share one thing in...

Iraqis living illegally in Jordan returning home in surprising trend.
December 1, 2002... Byline: E.A. Torriero AMMAN, Jordan _ War may be looming, but that didn't stop Shatha Thaimi from buying a bus ticket last week for Baghdad. After nine years of living in Denmark and Jordan, the Iraqi woman is returning home. "Why...

Kenyan farmer says he talked to suicide bombers.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Laurie Goering KIKAMBALA, Kenya _ Just minutes before the Israeli-owned Paradise hotel exploded in flames, a chocolate-colored sport utility vehicle carrying two Arab men turned off the dirt road that runs past the hotel and parked...

Researchers closing in on a killer _ inflammation.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Ronald Kotulak CHICAGO _ Scientists continue to be amazed at the things aspirin can do, like lowering the risk of Alzheimer's disease, stroke, heart disease and some cancers. Its newest wonder: greatly reducing the risk of death...

Scientists see green in Christmas tree genes.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Judith Graham DENVER _ Each year, Roberta and Arlene Montoya go in search of the perfect Christmas tree in the weeks after Thanksgiving. "It's got to be at least 8 foot tall and full, no holes, nice and green," said Arlene, 32....

Chicago Tribune Car Notes Column.
December 1, 2002

Chicago Tribune Download Column.
December 1, 2002

Nissan Says Focus Remains on Car Lines.
December 1, 2002

China's Economic Transition Carries Risk of Future Revolt.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Michael A. Lev Dec. 2--SHENYANG, China--At first blush, Tang Yao Xian looked foolish, miserable and desperate. He was waiting in his thin, army-style coat in the frigid morning air, lined up with 40 other freelance truck drivers in...

Chicago Tribune Jim Mateja Column.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Jim Mateja Dec. 2--CHICAGO--There's speculation that when the rear-wheel-drive LX sedans replace the front-wheel-drive LH sedans at Chrysler for '05, that will set the stage for a return of a muscle car moniker -- the Dodge...

Obit: Patrick O'Malley Sr., 91, Was Major Force in Chicago Politics, Business.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Sean D. Hamill Dec. 2--Patrick L. O'Malley Sr., who worked his way up from a deliveryman on a Coca-Cola truck to vice president before heading one of the country's largest vending companies, spoke with pride of shining shoes as a...

Chicago Tribune Getting Around Column.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Jon Hilkevitch Dec. 2--After appearing for much of 2002 that the Chicago Transit Authority's streak of annual increases in riders would end at four, the agency is now predicting a smidgen of growth and offering expanded service to...

HEADLINE HERE.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Patrick Kampert A temporary license to thrillPhoto by George Thompson/ Christina Pulawski in the Porsche Boxster S that she drove for several days thanks to an Exotic Car Share membership. . . Chicago Tribune ...

NBA players take jewelry collections to higher level.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Terry Armour CHICAGO _ In case you hadn't noticed _ and it's hard not to, really _ the new NBA is all about the "bling-bling." Before and after games, players look like they've stepped right out of a rap video. We're talking...

Supreme Court to revisit affirmative action in higher education.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Jan Crawford Greenburg WASHINGTON _ The Supreme Court announced Monday it would decide whether the Constitution prevents colleges and universities from taking race into account when evaluating applicants, a highly contentious issue...

Maybe it's time to talk about sex.
December 2, 2002... You know you've got to do it_and often. Have The Talks. With your kids. About sex. Where else will they learn about this stuff, MTV? The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS) has launched a parent-child...

UCLA-Wash. St. game Saturday affects 17 bowls.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Andrew Bagnato When the Pac-10 decided to push the Washington State-UCLA game back a few weeks to Dec. 7, it hoped to steal a little national television exposure on a Saturday the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference playoffs...

Broken finger sidelines Bears' Thomas.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Melissa Isaacson CHICAGO _ Chicago Bears running back Anthony Thomas will most likely be lost for the season with a broken left index finger, Dick Jauron said Monday, conceding that his team's faint hopes have finally run their...

Vick, Eagles amazing as cream rises to the top.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Don Pierson As the NFL season rounds the three-quarter pole, the finish is in view. Michael Vick is sprinting toward a Most Valuable Player award. If he falls short, he's already clinched an award for Most Amazing Player....

Fire at Olympia Fields destroys U.S. Open files.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Ed Sherman CHICAGO _ Robbie Zalzneck had one thing to be thankful for Monday. The fire that destroyed the U.S. Open headquarters at Olympia Fields Country Club early Sunday morning occurred during Thanksgiving weekend and not...

Ducks' 3 quick goals cap awful trip for Chicago.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Bob Foltman ANAHEIM, Calif. _ Chicago Blackhawks rookie goaltender Craig Andersson was part of history Sunday night in his first NHL start. But it was the kind of history he would just as soon not have any part of. The Anaheim...

HEADLINE HERE.
December 2, 2002... Byline: E.A. Torriero BAGHDAD _ UN weapons inspectors entered the gates of the Towers alcohol plant and two neighboring gin mills Monday and found potent wares: cases of working man's booze. "What has Arak (anise liquor) and gin to do...

Weapons inspectors check former Scud plant.
December 2, 2002... Byline: E.A. Torriero BAGHDAD, Iraq _ UN weapons inspectors entered the gates of the Towers alcohol plant and two neighboring gin mills Monday and found potent wares: cases of working man's booze "What has Arak (anise liquor) and gin...

`Where are we heading?'.
December 2, 2002... The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday, Dec. 3: X X X For those who wondered whether the Israelis were weary enough of the Palestinian terror attacks to try a different approach, the resounding Likud...

Poverty and graft make Kenya a terrorist target.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Laurie Goering MOMBASA, Kenya _ Street vendor Makasi Mamso was touting cheap watches in the winding streets of Mombasa's Old City last Friday when he saw Kenyan police march a group of arrested Pakistanis and Somalis out through...

Algonquin Hotel's new owners preserve quirky touches.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Stevenson Swanson NEW YORK _ Matilda the cat still prowls the registration desk. The brass bells that summon waiters to take drink orders remain on the lobby tables. And a brass plaque continues to advise visitors that proper...

2 Palestinians killed, 37 injured in West Bank.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Christine Spolar JENIN, West Bank _ When Israeli armored jeeps pulled into the market square Monday, Mutaz Odeh, a husky boy carrying a sack of nuts and seeds for his diabetic dad, moved too slowly to avoid the barrage of bullets...

Jimmy Herring settles into the Other Ones' `hot seat'.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Greg Kot When Jimmy Herring takes the stage as the lead guitarist of the newly reconfigured Grateful Dead _ now known as the Other Ones _ he'll likely feel a good deal more relaxed than he did the night of Aug. 3. That's when...

Well, no, they won't go.
December 2, 2002... Byline: John Cook EVANSTON, Ill._On a flawless autumn afternoon on the campus of Northwestern University, Charlie Moskos was preparing for battle. He surveyed the 600 or so students arrayed before him outside Leverone Auditorium and...

Rogge's next move is key to his leadership.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Philip Hersh MEXICO CITY _ Jacques Rogge lost last week when the International Olympic Committee rejected the proposal to remove three sports from the Olympic program beginning in 2008, an idea the IOC president tacitly endorsed....

High court to rule on sodomy laws.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Jan Crawford Greenburg WASHINGTON _ The Supreme Court announced Monday it would decide whether states can prosecute consenting adults for engaging in homosexual conduct, an issue that could have widespread implications beyond the...

A really senior senator.
December 2, 2002... The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday, Dec. 3: X X X Recently, Senate staffers going through some boxes in a basement room of the Capitol made a discovery: A ledger of pay and reimbursements for senators...

HEADLINE HERE.
December 2, 2002... BC-TRIBSKED_03:TB _ unslotted (910 words) CHICAGO TRIBUNE SKED FOR Tuesday, Dec. 3 NATIONAL: TEXAS/Steve Mills/ A report from a group of lawyers in Texas is out today and finds that lawyers on death penalty appeals fail miserably...

Many United mechanics feel they've given enough.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Robert Manor and Grace Aduroja CHICAGO _ United Airlines has a lot to fear in mechanics like Jim Chapko. Chapko, a 17-year United employee, spent part of Monday at his union's headquarters in Des Plaines pondering the latest...

United mechanics to reconsider decision on pay cut.
December 2, 2002... Byline: John Schmeltzer CHICAGO _ United Airlines' financial window is closing even as the troubled carrier's mechanics agreed to reconsider their decision to reject a pay cut. The airline, which is facing bankruptcy, on Monday bought...

Bush: Signs that Saddam will meet U.N. demands `not encouraging'.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Howard Witt and Bob Kemper WASHINGTON _ With a pivotal deadline only days away for Iraq to disclose all of its weapons programs, President Bush said Monday "the signs are not encouraging" that Saddam Hussein ultimately will meet...

Chavez opponents hold nationwide strike.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Gary Marx CARACAS, Venezuela_Opponents of President Hugo Chavez held a nationwide strike Monday to press the controversial leader into calling early elections, but government leaders said key industries remained largely unaffected...

Other countries balance benefits with profitability.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Carol Kleiman Eileen Appelbaum, a labor economist and a professor in Rutgers University's school of management and labor relations in Brunswick, N.J., spent the summer and fall of 2000 "going around the world." She says she...

Dodge Feels No Pressure to Offer SUV on Full-Size Pickup Platform.
December 2, 2002

Trucking Industry Safety Group Picks Wilkes-Barre, Pa., for Headquarters.
December 2, 2002

Chicago Tribune Bill Barnhart Column.
December 3, 2002... Byline: Bill Barnhart Dec. 3--`BEST STOCK' LISTS BETTER LEFT UNREAD: The hard-charging attorney general of New York, Eliot Spitzer, created a furor last month when he addressed an awards ceremony for stock analysts. Spitzer pointed...