New York Times Upfront articles from December 2007

New York Times Upfront archives from December 2007

Soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army.(NEWS & TRENDS)(Brief article)
December 10, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: SOLDIERS OF CHINA'S PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY brandished fans instead of rifles on October 30, when they took part in the "Singing for China's Communist Party" competition held in Chengdu. The People's...

Moscow's b-boys.(RUSSIA)(break dancing)(Brief article)
December 10, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Although many Russian politicians, including President Vladimir Putin, have been railing against U.S. foreign policy, enthusiasm for Western popular culture is at an all-time high in Russia. This includes a community...

You can bank on them.(MONEY)(Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology)(Brief article)
December 10, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Some high school students in the Bronx, N.Y., may find it easier to organize their finances, now that their school building has its own bank branch. The branch is staffed by 10 student tellers who were trained over...

Silly String goes to war.(IRAQ)(Brief article)
December 10, 2007... Last year, Marcelle Shriver of Stratford, N.J., had a strange request from her son Todd, 28, a soldier serving in Iraq: He asked for Silly String. But Todd's reason was quite serious: American soldiers were spraying it ahead of them to detect...

From 'Bobby' to Governor Jindal.(ELECTIONS)(Bobby Jindal)(Brief article)
December 10, 2007... Louisiana's newly elected Governor abandoned his given name, Piyush, when he was 4. He wanted to be called "Bobby," after one of the Kids on the The Brady Bunch, and the name stuck. Now 36, Bobby Jindal, a Republican, is the nation's first...

Numbers in the news.(NEWS & TRENDS)(Brief article)
December 10, 2007... $119,500 PRICE PAID AT AUCTION in October for 100 strands of hair taken 40 years ago from the corpse of Cuban revolutionary and T-shirt icon Che Guevara. [See p. 24] SOURCE; HERITAGE AUCTION GALLERIES 75% PERCENTAGE OF FAKE explosives...

Their ad on your car.(ADVERTISING)
December 10, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Some companies pay millions to put their logos on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s race car, but others might prefer to pay for space on your car. In fact, tens of thousands of drivers have had their vehicles wrapped in...

The way to a chimp's heart.(BEHAVIOR)(chimpanzees)(Brief article)
December 10, 2007... Sharing food may be a generous act, but there is often something in it for the sharer as well. It can be used to gain favors, pursue the opposite sex, or even to show off. It's true for chimpanzees as well as people, only what chimps share...

Guilt by the bottleful: bottled water is being portrayed as an environmental villain. But is it any different from bottled soda or juice?(NATIONAL)
December 10, 2007... Those bottles of water always seemed so harmless tucked into everyone s backpacks. In fact, when some schools banned soda and other sugary drinks from cafeterias and vending machines, they sold bottled water as a healthy alternative. But now,...

Primary matters: a quick guide to how the major parties pick their presidential candidates.(NATIONAL)
December 10, 2007... There are eight Democrats and eight Republicans running for President, but probably not for long. As voters cast ballots in primaries and caucuses--and with 21 states voting on February 5--nominees for both parties will probably emerge in the...

A day on the campaign trail: even in the Internet age, you can't run for President without meeting voters face to face. Upfront spends a day with Senator Barack Obama in New Hampshire.(NATIONAL)
December 10, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] CRITICAL THINKING Focus on the concept of "retail politics:" small group discussions, interactions with everyday citizens. What are the pros and cons of this kind of campaigning, from both a candidate's and...

Anatomy of an execution: after a few last words, 1,750 volts puts to death a father who shot his four children.(NATIONAL)(Daryl Holton )
December 10, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CRITICAL THINKING In 1972 [Furman v. Georgia}, the Supreme Court effectively overturned most states' death penalty laws, saying their application was "arbitrary and capricious." The death penalty returned in 1976...

The death penalty: where it stands today: the Supreme Court has effectively halted all executions while it considers a case from Kentucky challenging the constitutionality of lethal injections.
December 10, 2007... The 3,350 prisoners on death row in the United States will be paying attention this spring when the Supreme Court is expected to rule on Baze v. Rees. That case challenges the constitutionality of lethal injection, the primary method of...

The other war: Iraq gets most of the headlines, but the war in Afghanistan may prove to be more important in the fight against terrorism. And while it has made great strides in the last six years, Afghanistan is again struggling with a resurgent Taliban.(INTERNATIONAL)
December 10, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] CRITICAL THINKING Ask students why they think the U.S., with the most powerful military in the world, and its allies, have not been able to totally subdue the Taliban. Did the allies' quick victory over the...

Art or history? Dina Babbitt survived Auschwitz by painting portraits of Gypsy prisoners for Nazi doctor Josef Mengele. Now 84, Babbitt wants her paintings back, but the Auschwitz Museum won't give them up.(INTERNATIONAL)
December 10, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DINA GOTTLIEBOVA was a 19-year-old art student in Prague in 1942 when she and her mother, Johanna, were among the Jews sent to Terezin, a German concentration camp in what is now the Czech Republic. Then, in...

Che: the man behind the myth: how did Fidel Castro's ruthless lieutenant during the Cuban Revolution become such a hip icon?(Ernesto "Che" Guevara)(Cover story)(Biography)
December 10, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CRITICAL THINKING Ask for a show of hands: How many students have seen or worn a "Che shirt"? Then ask how much they knew about the man and his Life before reading the article. Has their view of him changed? ...

Should the death penalty be abolished? Capital punishment is on the books in 37 states, and in the federal courts.(DEBATE)
December 10, 2007... YES When the United States was founded more than two centuries ago, prisons were a rarity. But capital punishment was commonplace in the 13 Colonies, as well as in England and across Europe. Today, almost two thirds of the world's...

The quiet generation: are today's young people too quiet--and too online--for their own good?(OPINION)
December 10, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I recently visited several colleges, and the more I'm around this generation of college students, the more I'm both baffled and impressed. I'm impressed because they're so much more optimistic and idealistic...

When dad goes off to war: Brittany Fraser's father has been in Iraq for more than a year, and life on the home front hasn't been easy.(VOICES)
December 10, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The day in August 2006 when my dad said goodbye to leave for Iraq was the hardest day of my life. My father is a captain in the Army, and his deployment to Iraq is 15 months long. When he left, 15 months sounded...

Cartoons.(Cartoon)
December 10, 2007... SIMANCA OSMANI (Brazil) * CAGLE CARTOONS DUDE, DIDN'T YOU HEAR? THE HOLLYWOOD WRITERS STRIKE SHUT DOWN ALL THE LATE-NIGHT TALK SHOWS. BUT WHERE WILL I GET MY NEWS?!! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NATE BEELER * The Washington Examiner...

Refugees: where they come from.(GRAPH: NATIONAL)(Brief article)
December 10, 2007... As the article "Che: The Man Behind the Myth" notes, a million Cubans have fled to the United States since Fide[ Castro seized power in 1959. In fact, Cuba has been the largest single source of refugees in the U.S. since World War II. But...

Game show.(game rules)(Brief article)
December 10, 2007... * USE with articles identified. The statements are answers to questions [modeled after the TV show Jeopardy!]. Students must answer in the form of questions. * DIVIDE the crass into teams. * READ the statements. * CALL on the...