Scholastic Update articles from February 1990

Scholastic Update archives from February 1990

The impact of intervention. (Central America)
February 9, 1990... As the word on the wall above suggests, what Central Americans may want most is the liberty to pursue peace and democracy on their own. ON DECEMBER 20, Americans woke to startling news. In the small hours of the morning, thousands of U.S....

The legacy of poverty. (Central America ) (illustration)
February 9, 1990... For millions of Central Americans, poverty is a way of life. A tiny elite controls most of the region's land, wealth, and power. That leaves the vast majority of Central Americans with no land to live on or grow food on. This staggering...

Central America: a region in turmoil.
February 9, 1990... Central America has dominated the headlines throughout the 1980s: civil war in El Salvador, revolution and civil war in Nicaragua, brutality in Guatemala, the United States' invasion in Panama. In one short decade, the entire region seemed to...

The U.S. invasion of Panama. (includes related articles)
February 9, 1990... Was the risk of sending U.S. troops to capture Panama's unsavory, drug-dealing dictator worth the price? SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT LAST DECEMber 20, residents of the sprawling El Chorrillo barrio in downtown Panama City were startled out of...

A history of intervention. (U.S. intervention in Central American affairs)
February 9, 1990... The U.S. has always intervened in Central American affairs. But its short-term successes have done little to achieve long-term stability. Today, anti-American feelings run high. THE DECEMBER INVAsion of Panama continued a long history of...

The difficult path to peace. (Central America; includes related articles)
February 9, 1990... Forged against great odds, a five-nation peace plan offers Central America a way out of its turmoil. The plan is fragile-but offers a ray of hope. DAY AFTER DAY, the bloodshed in Central America continues. Leftist guerrillas, right-wing...

Understanding the Fidel factor. (Fidel Castro's influence on Central America)
February 9, 1990... For 31 years, Cuba's Fidel Castro has embodied the Communist threat. Is his influence fading? IN 1959, FIDEL, Castro, a 32-year-old lawyer-turned-revolutionary, became the leader of Cuba, ending the corrupt and often brutal dictatorship of...

Caught in war's web. (teenagers & children in El Salvador)(includes related article)
February 9, 1990... The civil war in El Salvador-like many wars throughout the world-is fought largely by teenagers. Their lives are violent-and often tragically short. WITH HER DIMPLED cheeks and flirtatious smile, Yesenia looks like any 16year-old...

The church of the powerless. (Catholic Church in Latin America)
February 9, 1990... From lobbying for sewer systems to bearing arms against dictators, the Catholic clergy in Latin America have fought for the human rights of their people. JUST BEFORE DAWN on November 16, members of the Salvadoran military arrived on the...

Asylum for Andreas. (Andreas Juan Santiago, Guatemalan Indian sought U.S. sanctuary)
February 9, 1990... Fearing for his life, Andreas Juan Santiago, a Guatemalan Indian, sought U.S. sanctuary. WHEN ANDREAS Juan Santiago talks about his journey to the United States, his voice is very soft but his eyes are hard. He came here from Guatemala in...

Another kind of intervention. (private organizations meeting & helping Central Americans)(includes glossary of terms)
February 9, 1990... Every year, thousands of Americans travel to Central America to meet-and help-people living in war's midst. REBECCA PHARES has always known more about Nicaragua than your typical American teenager. Her mother, Gail, has devoted her career...

The rewards of helping others.
February 23, 1990... Volunteerism is one of today's hot topics. It's a pet issue of President George Bush, and the focal point of Barbara Bush's activities as First Lady. Newspapers and national magazines have made celebrities out of ordinary Americans committed to...

The need for helping hands. (illustration)
February 23, 1990... Americans are relying more and more on volunteers to cure their social ills. Once, problems such as homelessness, the environment, and elderly care were largely the domain of the federal government. But they are being increasingly left to...

Armed with idealism. (teenage volunteers)
February 23, 1990... You haven't heard much about the teenagers on the following pages. Unlike nationally known politicians, who have an obvious impact on our lives, the work teenage volunteers do is often behind the scenes and out of the public eye. But, as...

A thousand points of light. (George Bush's volunteerism theme)
February 23, 1990... When George Bush accepted the Republican nomination for President in 1988, he voiced his desire to see "a thousand points of light" in America. Many Americans wondered what he meant. The phrase points of light," he later explained,...

Mandatory national service? The debate over teens and civic duty.
February 23, 1990... By making "A thousand points of light" such a prominent theme in his administration, President Bush has signaled to all Americans, including teenagers, that he wants more volunteerism. Congress is getting the message as well. Lawmakers have...

"Saint" Jane. (Jane Addams)(includes related article )
February 23, 1990... If America were to choose a patron saint of volunteerism, Jane Addams would deserve the title. Long before George Bush coined the term "a thousand points of light," she was in the slums of Chicago, fighting hunger and poverty. The...

Legacy of a vision. (Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society")(includes related article)
February 23, 1990... In 1964, shortly after he became President, Lyndon Johnson announced his plan to create a "Great Society." In bold words, Johnson vowed to fight poverty, crime, and ignorance, rebuild decaying cities, and spread the blessings of a rich...

The Peace Corps pushes 30.
February 23, 1990... At 2 a.m. on October 14, 1960, presidential candidate John F. Kennedy decided to put something he had long suspected to a test. Kennedy believed that young Americans were eager to make a difference in the developing world. At an impromptu...

Out of school, into Africa. (teenager volunteered for service/study opportunity in Liberia)
February 23, 1990... I Two years ago, Matthew Meschery felt like he was suffocating in high school. "I was discouraged," Matthew, 18, says. "I just wanted to get it over with. " Instead of sticking it out for another year, Matthew came up with an idea that...

Community service 101. (volunteering as part of the high school experience)(includes information on starting your own program)
February 23, 1990... Every year at graduation, the principal of Hopkins High School in Hopkins, Minnesota, asks members of the senior class to stand if they've been involved in volunteer work. Last year, 90 percent of the class rose to their feet. At Hopkins...

How you can help: a guide to volunteer opportunities for teens. (directory)
February 23, 1990... In putting together this issue of UPDATE, we scoured the country for teens involved in interesting, innovative volunteer programs. And we discovered scores of them. We talked to a group of students from upstate New York who are teaching adult...