Scholastic Update articles from February 1996

Scholastic Update archives from February 1996

A Washington teen scores a victory for free speech in cyberspace. (Paul Kim; freedom of speech on the Internet)
February 9, 1996... In September, we reported the story of Paul Kim, a student from Bellevue, Washington, who posted a spoof of his high school yearbook on the Internet's World Wide Web. His principal didn't find the prank amusing and faxed letters to the...

Hall of fame. (twins Chris and Courtney Salthouse ace the Scholastic Aptitude Test)
February 9, 1996... Chris and Courtney Salthouse, 17, say they're very different people. But on November 15, these twins received identical news. They both scored perfect 1600s on their SATs. "I jumped up and down and screamed," says Courtney. "I was pleased,...

Three teens from Australia leapfrog their way to stardom. (Silver Chair; music group)
February 9, 1996... The members of Silverchair are sick of discussing their age, which is barely 16. Lately, they've been telling the press they're 17 or 18 "just to get them off our backs," says Ben Gillies (left), the band's drummer. With Chris Joannou (center)...

Tune in and turn on with a cool new show on - that's right - poetry. (The United States of Poetry)
February 9, 1996... If you think of poetry as a dusty old art form, or the stuff on greeting cards, a new series this month on PBS may change your mind. Looking more like MTV than public TV, The United States of Poetry proves that poems aren't just things to study...

A campaign is born. (1996 Presidential election; candidates)(Cover Story)
February 9, 1996... EVERY FOUR YEAR, SOMETHING EXTRA-ordinary happens in this country: Ordinary Americans get to decide who should be the leader of our national government. It's an amazing ritual that's part basic democracy, part political theater. Candidates for...

The issues. (1996 Presidential election)
February 9, 1996... When people go to the polls this year, they're not just choosing who gets to live in the White House. They're helping, to decide what path the country will take into the year 2000. Here's a look at what's at stake. The Budget Debate The...

They're off and running. (1996 Presidential election; primaries and caucuses)
February 9, 1996... November may seem far off, but the race for the Presidency is well under way. Candidates are already crisscrossing the country to compete in a marathon of statewide contests. With most of the primaries and caucuses over by March, the field could...

All in a day's campaign. (1996 Presidential election)(Lamar Alexander on the campaign trail)
February 9, 1996... What's it like to run for President? On a snowy weekend in January, UPDATE followed Republican candidate Lamar Alexander to find out. When we hooked up with him, Alexander was trying to woo voters in the crucial state of New Hampshire, site of...

Holy profits, Batman! (movie industry; 1995)
February 9, 1996... The high-flying blockbusters Batman Forever and Apollo 13 helped make 1995 a record year for the U.S. movie business. American films earned $5.2 billion last year, the highest figure in Hollywood history. One would think such news would have...

Kids these days.... (growing up in the 1920s)
February 9, 1996... If you think gangsta rap, pierced navels, and pink hair are the first teenage fads ever to shock a generation of parents, think again. After World War I (1914-1918), adults took a hard look at the generation coming of age--and were frightened...

Stumping in cyberspace. (1996 Presidential campaigns on the World Wide Web)(includes a list of political Web sites)
February 9, 1996... At first glance, two new home pages on the Internet's World Wide Web--Dole96.com and Dole96.org--appear almost identical. And if you take either of these off-ramps while cruising the Information Superhighway, you'll see the same kind of sights....

Is the world at risk? (environmental hazards)(Illustration)
February 9, 1996... When factories spew carbon dioxide into the air in Detroit, it comes down as acid rain in Canada. When loggers cut down the rain forest in Brazil, it may affect the climate in Florida. The earth's environment is one thing we all share, regardless...

Smoking is "uncool." (student survey)
February 9, 1996... For President Clinton, who wants to stop America's teenagers from smoking cigarettes, there's both good news and bad news in a recent UPDATE Readers' Poll. The good news is that a vast majority of teenagers consider smoking uncool. "It smells...

Africa: The struggle for democracy. (European colonialism and Africa's ethnic, civil unrest; includes political map of Africa)(Cover Story)
February 23, 1996... In 1992, the world was shocked by a devastating famine in Somalia. In 1994, the world was shocked again, this time by the massacre of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Rwanda. Every now and then, a tragedy unfolds that forces the rest of the...

On the soup line.(interviews with people who received aid after the Great Depression)
February 23, 1996... In his State of the Union address last month, President Clinton said, "The era of big government is over." The federal government's 60-year-old commitment to aiding the poor was being drastically cut back. The era of big government began in...

Full disclosure?(BosniaLink, new web site provided by the United States Government)
February 23, 1996... Pop quiz. How many American soldiers are currently serving in Bosnia? Does their mission have an inspiring name like Operation Desert Storm? And above all, what kind of underwear have the troops been issued? If you couldn't answer off the top...