New York Times Upfront articles from December 2002

New York Times Upfront archives from December 2002

Don't take the fun out of youth sports. (voices).
December 13, 2002... FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA--When I joined a private soccer league a few years ago, the sport meant everything to me. My coach said that I had lots of potential, and I became captain of my team. That was before all the obsessed parents took the...

Deep sea time bomb? (Photo).
December 13, 2002... BLACK PLAGUE: An oil-soaked bird flaps its wings on a beach in northern Spain, following a November oil spill. An aging tanker broke apart and sank in the Atlantic, creating what environmentalists called "a time bomb at the bottom of the sea."...

Cell culture. (International).(most households in Helsinki, Finland, have at least one cell phone)(Illustration)
December 13, 2002... A newspaper in Helsinki, Finland, recently published a cartoon of a baby with a cell phone, notifying his parents that his diaper needed changing. But it's barely a joke. Helsinki is home to Nokia, the cell-phone maker. It's one of the most...

Ketchup class. (Business).(teachers volunteer at McDonald for school donations)
December 13, 2002... Many schools really need money. The promise of a school donation has prompted some teachers to volunteer behind the counter at McDonald's. In exchange, the burger giant's McTeacher program has dispensed more than $1 million to schools In two...

The Un-uniformed. (Education).(school uniforms)
December 13, 2002... School uniforms, popular in the mid-1990s, are becoming a fashion of the past. Uniforms were seen as a cure-all: If students looked more orderly, schools would be more orderly. Security would improve, and noise and discipline problems would...

Teens just say no to sex (really). (Society).
December 13, 2002... Teens are becoming more conservative In their sexual behavior. High-school virgins outnumbered those who had engaged in sex 54 percent to 46 percent last year, according to a government report. A decade ago, the percentages were reversed. The...

Branching out. (Q&A).(Michelle Branch)(Interview)
December 13, 2002... Michelle Branch is a busy teen. Since releasing her multi-platinum debut, The Spirit Room, Branch has scored three hit singles, sung with Santana, and won the MTV Viewers Choice Award. She has a supporting role In the movie The Hot Chick, with...

The new shape of civil liberties: in the post-9/11 world, Americans are under more scrutiny and surveillance than ever before. How far should civil-liberties protections be bent to prevent terrorism?
December 13, 2002... At a bus stop in Greensboro, North Carolina, the authorities arrest a man suspected of directing a terrorist "sleeper" cell. In Lackawanna, New York, five men are accused of having trained in Afghanistan with terrorists linked to Osama bin...

Countdown Iraq.(Chronology)(Illustration)
December 13, 2002... A countdown began Nov. 8, when the UN Security Council gave Iraq a "final opportunity" to rid itself of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. UN inspectors must verify that the weapons are gone, the council said, or Iraq will face...

A riddle wrapped in an enigma: North Korea is an isolated, poor, and cultish society. Its recent attempts to reform have been stymied--not least by its admission that it has a nuclear-weapons program.(Illustration)
December 13, 2002... PYONGYANG, North Korea--When our plane landed here in North Korea's capital, there were no other jets in sight. A huge portrait of the nation's founder, Kim Il Sung, stared out from atop the airport's musty terminal. A tour bus with...

Scholarships: when B's, not need, are enough: at least a dozen states offer merit scholarships to keep bright students from leaving. Should financial aid go to well-off families? (education times).
December 13, 2002... Kelly Ryan has made good use of her college trust fund. It has bought a trusty Honda, trips to Italy, Argentina, Switzerland, some painful lessons about picking her own stocks, and, if all goes well, maybe even her first piece of real estate...

The New Elvis? From Cultural Enemy to mainstream megastar: Eminem takes rap into America's living rooms and onto the big screen. (arts).
December 13, 2002... Flashback: It is the year 2000, and Public Cultural Enemy No. 1 is a Detroit rapper named Eminem (real name: Marshall Mathers III). His abundant use of coarse language and slurs deriding gays and women has aroused the full spectrum of Political...

Secret warriors: female soldiers in the Civil War: eager for adventure, or to accompany their husbands, hundreds of women assumed male identities and marched into battle. (times past).
December 13, 2002... The Battle of Antietam remains the bloodiest single day of combat in U.S. history. Along Antietam Creek in Maryland on Sept. 17, 1862, more than 23,000 men were killed or wounded--and so were at least two women, who had disguised their sex and...

Should the death penalty apply to juveniles? The Supreme Court refused to hear a case challenging the death penalty for minors. The issue remains unresolved. (opinion).
December 13, 2002... YES I've always believed in "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." All people need to be accountable for their actions, including juveniles. The death penalty is a fair punishment for those who murder--even if they were under 18 when they...

Drawing on the news.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2002... NOW YOU'RE TALKIN' MY LANGUAGE Tony Auth * The Philadelphia Inquirer * Universal Press Syndicate [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SURPRISE Bob Englehart * The Hartford Courant [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FRANKLY I'D THINK A...

Graph exercise: while its people face famine, North Korea's military feasts.(Illustration)
December 13, 2002... North Korea, an isolated, secretive, Communist dictatorship, is on the brink of collapse. The country is in its eighth of chronic food shortages, Only massive food shipments from the world community, including the U.S., have held of starvation....

Upfront quiz show.(Illustration)
December 13, 2002... Use with articles throughout the issue. Divide the class into 2-4 teams. Road the statements which are answers to questions. In this game, modeled after the TV show Jeopardy! students must give their answers in the form of questions. After...