Scholastic Update articles from September 1993

Scholastic Update archives from September 1993

The lonely superpower. (United States foreign relations) (Cover Story)
September 3, 1993... When it comes to bearing a burden, few people can match Sisyphus (sis-uh-fuss) of Greek mythology. As the story goes, Sisyphus was condemned after death to an eternal punishment of pushing a boulder up a hill--only to have it roll down for him...

Leading the world? (world map and United States foreign relations concerns)
September 3, 1993... When Bill Clinton was elected President, he pledged to focus "like a laser beam" on the economy and other domestic concerns. Instead, much of his attention has been diverted to foreign crises, from Haiti to Iraq. Here is a region-by-region look...

In whose interest? (interpretation of national security)
September 3, 1993... Should the United States intervene in the war in Bosnia? Send foreign aid to Russia? Work to restore democracy in Haiti? When the President and his policy makers confront questions like these, they try to determine whether taking action would...

From enemies to allies. (United States and Russian foreign relations)(includes related articles)
September 3, 1993... The two world leaders strode into the conference hall in Vancouver, Canada, last April, smiling as they concluded another successful summit meeting between their countries. But success at this summit--the first between Presidents Bill Clinton...

To the shores of Tripoli. (first US naval protection of merchant ships in 1801)
September 3, 1993... In March 1801, U.S. Consul James Cathcart looked out his window in Tripoli, on the northern coast of Africa, and saw cannons being loaded onto ships. Word had it that these were pirate cruisers with specific targets in mind. Cathcart dashed off...

The spying game. (validity of Central Intelligence Agency after Cold War)
September 3, 1993... It sounds like a James Bond movie: Secret agents plotting assassinations with exploding cigars and poison pens. Secret armies conspiring to overthrow governments. Agents. infiltrating enemy lines. But these scenarios weren't imaginary. They...

The price of peace. (defense spending cuts and United States economy)(includes related article)
September 3, 1993... This year, the town of Marquette, Michigan, will lose its single largest employer--the K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base. The U.S. government plans to shut down the base and transfer its 3,200 military personnel to other bases, leaving behind 1,000...

The fight over free trade. (debate on North American Free Trade Agreement)
September 3, 1993... In 1985, the Zenith Corporation, the last U.S.-based maker of television sets, moved final assembly of its 13-inch TVs to Reynosa, Mexico. With Zenith's move, 20,000 jobs left the town of Springfield, Missouri, leaving behind just 400 jobs and...

The law of the land. (power of the Supreme Court)
September 17, 1993... As interpreter of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has incredible power over our daily lives - perhaps even more than the President. A single Court decision can affect millions of Americans, sometimes in the most personal ways imaginable....

Keys to the court. (components of the Supreme Court)
September 17, 1993... To understand how the Supreme Court acquired such immense power, you have to look behind its fabled curtain of secrecy. Most leaders of government are constantly on TV. Every day, members of Congress, as well as the President, appear in a...

The kids on the court. (young law clerks who work for the Supreme Court)
September 17, 1993... Behind the marble columns and black robes, the Supreme Court's young law clerks keep the wheels of justice turning. Although the sun has long since set on the white marble columns of the Supreme Court building, a light still burns in a...

The law in your life. (rap musicians and copyright law)
September 17, 1993... You probably don't think of the Supreme Court when you're browsing through a record store, scarfing up the latest discs. But the Supreme Court is there. A case now before the Court could limit the kinds of songs you'll find on CDs. And...

Don't read this! (censorship of school books)
September 17, 1993... A growing number of parents want certain books removed from the hands of students-and they're winning. Free-speech advocates say those efforts amount to censorship. Like almost everywhere else in America, the books of horror writer Stephen...

Is separate equal? (legality of public school for Hasidic Jews)
September 17, 1993... The 5,000 residents of Kiryas Joel, a small village nestled in the Catskill mountains of New York State, lead.a quiet, almost isolated fife. The villagers are all members of the Satmar Hasidic sect, a group of ultra-orthodox Jews. The...

Locked out. (constitutionality of searching school lockers)
September 17, 1993... To most high school kids, a hall locker is a private place where they can store books, hang up a poster of a favorite band, or stash a bag of Doritos and the picture of a boyfriend or girlfriend. Indeed, most students would probably find the...

From school to Supreme Court. (students' civil rights cases)
September 17, 1993... Some of the Supreme Court's biggest cases began with the protests of young people. Here are three tales of students who spoke out and got the Supreme Court to listen. In 1965, Mary Beth Tinker spent her evenings like many 13-year-old girls...