Scholastic Update articles from September 1997

Scholastic Update archives from September 1997

Freshman rush: we trail a new House member for one hectic day on Capitol Hill for a behind-the-scenes look at how Congress really works. (includes a related article on Congress and its basic functions)(Cover Story)
September 8, 1997... WASHINGTON, D.C. It's 7:30 a.m. in the deserted hallways of the U.S. Capitol as Representative Anne Northup, a first-term Congresswoman from Kentucky, bursts into her office. "Do you have him on the line?" she calls out. "Dialing...

Capitol crossfire: the battle lines are drawn - social spending, taxes, and the latest scandal are the big issues facing Congress.
September 8, 1997... Welcome to the show. At about the same time you crack open your school books this month, Congress will be getting back to work in Washington, D.C. It's the job of Congress to make the nation's laws and decide how much federal money to spend --...

Kings of the Hill. (profiles of the seven most powerful members of Congress)
September 8, 1997... Rep. Newt Gingrich Republican, Georgia Position: Speaker of the House Age: 54 First elected: 1978 In 1994, Gingrich helped orchestrate a political revolution -- overthrowing the Democrats' 40-year reign as the majority party in Congress....

A despot falls, a region shifts. (revolution in Zaire)
September 8, 1997... One morning last May, a rebel army walked into Kinshasa, the capital of the Central African nation of Zaire, and took over without a fight. Children danced in the streets. Patriotic songs blared from radios. "We're free! We're free!"...

Constitutional crisis? (national debate over changing the US Constitution)
September 8, 1997... Brittany Settle Gossett strode down the aisle of a Capitol Hill hearing room on May 22 with a look of steely determination. Standing before a giant American flag, the 21-year old from Dickson, Tennessee, leaned toward the microphone and...

The road to Gettysburg. (famous battle of the American Civil War)
September 8, 1997... The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia stunned its Union foe during the first two years of the Civil War (1861-1865). Fighting on their own soil, and led by brilliant generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, Confederate troops moved...

China marches in.(Hong Kong returns to Chinese rule)(Cover Story)
September 22, 1997... After 156 years of British rule, freewheeling Hong Kong returns to Communist China. Both places may be in for big changes. HONG KONG, CHINA--As the royal yacht Britannia sailed out of Hong Kong harbor on the last day of June, taking with it...

A giant awakens; China's economy is flying high. But at the cost of freedom.
September 22, 1997... China's economy is flying high. But at the cost of freedom. BEIJING, CHINA -- At 8 a.m., the narrow streets of China's capital are bustling as shoppers jostle and pick through produce piled high on wayside stalls. At a crowded department...

Rights for sale? The U.S. risks losing a key trade partner, if it protests China's human-rights record.(includes related information on possible U.S. policies regarding trade with China)
September 22, 1997... The U.S. risks losing a key trade partner, if it protests China's human-rights record. What would you do? Wei Jingsheng (way JING-shung), 47, has spent nearly 18 years in Chinese prisons. Wei's jailers have beaten him, kept the lights on in...

Reconstruction's last gast: in 1876, state elections in South Carolina proved one of the fiercest - and final - battlegrounds for Reconstruction.
September 22, 1997... In 1876, state elections in South Carolina proved one of the fiercest--and--final battlegrounds for Reconstruction. On July 8, 1876, a massacre occurred in Hamburg, South Carolina. A confrontation between a 40-man black militia and armed...

The smoke busters.(legal settlement between states and cigarette companies)
September 22, 1997... Is a landmark settlement the final victory in the battle against smoking, or is it just a smoke screen? Nick Zanoria started smoking when he was 15. Even though smoking irritated his mouth, congested his sinuses, and caused sores to grow in...