New York Times Upfront articles from February 2004

New York Times Upfront archives from February 2004

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
February 2, 2004... A Nov. 17 article on the Kennedy assassination misspelled the surname of the Governor of Texas. He was John Connally, not Connolly. An Oct. 13 article on Russia misstated Mohsin Hashim's school. It was Moscow State University.

Nine jewel-encrusted Faberge eggs.(news & Trends)(Malcolm Forbes collection)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Nine jewel-encrusted Faberge eggs and approximately 170 other objects owned by the late publishing magnate Malcolm Forbes could fetch $90 million when they are auctioned by Sotheby's in April. Starting in 1885, 50 eggs were made as Easter...

Pass the popcorn.(Political Quiz)
February 2, 2004... Iowa's Quad-City Times recently asked seven of the nine candidates running for the Democratic presidential nomination to name an old movie that "still makes me laugh."

Which movie did each candidate choose?(news & Trends)(presidential candidates' favorite films)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Carol Moseley Braun a) Animal House Howard Dean b) Fletch John Edwards c) Planes, Trains Dick Gephardt and Automobiles John Kerry d) The Producers Dennis Kucinich e) Raising Arizona...

Numbers in the news.(news & Trends)
February 2, 2004... 37.9 years Average Life expectancy in Zimbabwe in 2002. AIDS is the number one cause of death for Zimbabweans between 15 and 59. SOURCE: UNITED NATIONS 60% Percentage of Iraqis who were unemployed in December 2003. SOURCE...

New focus on Arabic.(Education)(American foreign language learning increases)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... With much of its military, intelligence, and diplomatic energy focused oil the Mideast, the U.S. needs more Arabic speakers, and it is getting them. Scores of colleges have added or expanded Arabic course offerings, and a new study shows more...

Soccer: much ado about Freddy.(Sports)(Freddy Adu)(Brief Article)(Biography)
February 2, 2004... Freddy Adu is so skilled and so poised that many adults, remembering themselves at age 14, insist he must be older than that. Born in Ghana and now a United States citizen, Adu signed a six-year contract rate last year with Major League Soccer...

Noted & quoted.(Soundbites)
February 2, 2004... 'It could be interpreted as earthquake diplomacy. It could be used as a starting point for dialogue.' --Davoud Hermitas Bavand, a political scientist at Tehran University, on having U.S. aid workers in Bam, Iran, where an earthquake left...

Lost treasure: gold and pickles.(Americana)(steamship Republic)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... The steamship Republic sailed from New York on Oct. 18, 1865, bound for New Orleans. Carrying 59 passengers and crew and cargo to help the Southern port city recover from the Civil War, it ran into a hurricane and sank 100 miles off the coast...

Rapper says he's just being himself.(Q&A)(Brief Article)(Interview)
February 2, 2004... Jin may not fit the standard hip-hop mold, but this 21-year old puts his own stamp on the genre with his debut CD, The Rest Is History, out in March. UPFRONT spoke with Jin about his music. So are you excited about your album release? ...

Good predictor?(Elections)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... When the Consumer Confidence Index, a widely cited barometer of the nation's economy, has been at 100 or more the September before a presidential election, the incumbent party has won the popular vote; when it has been below, the opponent has...

What monkey thinks, robot arm does.(Science)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Scientists at Duke University reported recently that a macaque monkey with electrodes implanted in its brain could move a robot's arm, much as if it were moving its own arm. Researchers hope to adapt the technology for paralyzed humans. And...

It's all in the palm.(Crime)(police use palm prints)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... For more than a century, the fingerprint has been the quintessential piece of crime scene evidence. But, aided by new technology, police departments are turning to another source of distinctively patterned skin: the palm. Police say at least 30...

Canada: sharing a border, but not a worldview: longtime allies, the U.S. and its northern neighbor increasingly see things differently.(International)(Humber College comedy school)
February 2, 2004... Canadians and Americans still dress alike, talk alike, like the same books, television shows, and movies, and trade more goods and services than ever before. But on social and political issues, a chasm has opened up between the two nations. ...

The changing face of America: with help from Hollywood and Madison Avenue, Generation Y is challenging the way America thinks about race and ethnicity.(National)(Cover Story)
February 2, 2004... Patria Rodriguez, an advertising sales director for a women's magazine in New York, has light brown skin and thick, curly hair. She says that she resembles the actress Rosie Perez, and others have told her that she looks like the singer Sade....

Castro's revolution: forty-five years ago, a young firebrand took control of Cuba. Relations with the U.S. have been troubled ever since.(Times Past)(Fidel Castro)(Biography)
February 2, 2004... When the first truckloads of rebel troops rolled into Havana just two days into 1959, they were decorated with the black-and-red flag of the Cuban Revolution. After decades of political and social instability and seven years under the...

Afghanistan's accidental reporter: leaving California behind for two summers, Hyder Akbar, 18, sent riveting radio dispatches from his parents' homeland.(Media)(Biography)
February 2, 2004... The first hint that Hyder Akbar is not Afghanistan's most seasoned radio reporter is his voice, the relaxed drawl of a California teenager, peppered with "all rights" and laced with laughs. It is a strange approach for the type of news he often...

Should Congress renew the ban on assault weapons? Unless renewed, the ban will expire in September. A Senator who voted for the 1994 ban, and one who voted against it, debate its value.(Debate)
February 2, 2004... YES The assault-weapons ban of 1994 outlawed the manufacture and importation of military-style weapons designed for one purpose--killing people. But if Congress does not take action, the ban will expire in September. Recent data show that...

Cartoons.(Cartoon)
February 2, 2004... ... IT... ... WORKED... ... FOR... ... ME! OK. WHICH STATES WANT TO TAKE PART IN THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS OF SELECTING OUR NATION'S LEADER? THINK I'LL TRY JUGGLING... HAVE A NICE STAY IN THE U.S. THANKS, I'LL...

Visiting Vietnam and finding a new identity.(Voices)
February 2, 2004... I have always thought of myself as an American since I cannot read or write in Vietnamese. I came to America when I was 5, and for a long time it was the only home I knew. But in 1996, my parents and I went back to Vietnam for the first time...

A snapshot of Hispanics in America.(Graph Exercise)
February 2, 2004... America has long served as a magnet for people around the world who wanted a new and better life for themselves and their children. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Europe was the departure point for millions of people fleeing poverty,...

Upfront quiz 1.
February 2, 2004... DIRECTIONS: Fill in blank or circle letter next to the best answer. 1. Average male-female life expectancy in the African nation of Zimbabwe is only 37.9. As in much of Africa, the disease of -- is a major killer. 2. The U.S....

Upfront quiz show.
February 2, 2004... Use with articles throughout the issue. Divide the class into 2-4 teams. Read the statements below, which are answers to questions. In this game, modeled after the TV show Jeopardy!, students must give their answers in the form of questions....

Japanese businessman attend a Shinto purification ceremony at the Kanda Myojin Shrine in Tokyo aimed at fending off viruses and software glitches in their computers.(news & Trends)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... Japanese businessman attend a Shinto purification ceremony at the Kanda Myojin Shrine in Tokyo aimed at fending off viruses and software glitches in their computers. The ceremony was conducted by a Shinto priest. Shinto, Japan's oldest...

Spies on the trail.(Politics)(presidential campaign intelligence)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... In the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination, candidates are leaving nothing to chance. Behind every candidate is an army of foot soldiers whose job is to monitor and determine other candidates. These practitioners of what one...

Numbers in the news.
February 23, 2004... 75% Decline in number of people downloading music files on any given day since the music industry starting suing downloaders for copyright violations last year. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES 5.3 million Estimated number of...

Extra credit, at a theater near you.(Movies)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... The closing credits in movies are becoming mini-epics in their own right. Credits for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, clocked in at a whopping 9 minutes 33 seconds. They included the names of all the actors, producers, editors,...

Supersized coffins for a hefty population.(Americana)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... Perhaps nowhere is the issue of obesity in America more vividly illustrated than at Goliath Casket in Lynn, Ind., manufacturers of oversize coffins. There one can see a triple-wide coffin--44 inches across, compared with 24 inches for a...

Noted & quoted.(Soundbites)
February 23, 2004... 'Allowing women to mix with men is the root of every evil and catastrophe.' --Sheik Abdulaziz, Saudi Arabia's top cleric, denouncing calls for greater women's rights as a violation of Islamic teachings. Religious leaders are seeking to...

Watch that comma!(International)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... The surprise No. 1 best seller in Britain this year is not a suspense thriller, political memoir, or even a tell-all about the Queen It's Eats, Shoots & Leaves, a grammar treatise that leads the reader through the pitfalls of comma splicing;...

America's new entertainment guru.(Q&A)(Brief Article)(Interview)
February 23, 2004... Ryan Seacrest, the 29-year-old host of American Idol, has come a long way since he led the Pledge of Allegiance over the loudspeakers at Atlanta's Dunwoody High. He recently replaced Casey Kasem as the radio voice of American Top 40 and he has...

Which is tallest?(Architecture)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
February 23, 2004... Will Freedom Tower at Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center once stood, be the tallest skyscraper? it depends on how it's measured. Most architects count spires--but not antennae--as part of a building's structure. BUILDING ...

Predicting admissions online.(Education)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... Can admission to top colleges be boiled down to a formula? Some online companies say yes. The founders of ThickEnvelope.com say that for a $79.95 fee they will assign applicants a probability, from 5 percent to 90 percent, of being accepted...

Brr-rr! The new cold war.(Weather)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... For half a century, International Falls, Minn., has billed itself by the trademarked moniker "Icebox of the Nation." Each year, the town of 6,703 people on the Canadian border celebrates its status as coldest spot in the contiguous U.S. with a...

What if we actually did find life on Mars? If life--even microscopic life--is found in space, humanity's claim to uniqueness in the universe would be challenged.(National)(Cover Story)
February 23, 2004... The story of astronomy is one long, slow assault on our sense of self-importance. The ancients thought they were at the center of the universe, with the sun and the stars moving around them. In the 16th century, the Polish astronomer Nicolaus...

Bush Gears up for November: his father disliked 'the vision thing,' but this President Bush is counting on big ideas to win re-election.(National)
February 23, 2004... During a moment of irritation in the 1988 campaign, the Republican presidential candidate, Vice President George H.W. Bush, derided "the vision thing," as he called it, describing a leader's ability to set inspiring national goals. The first...

Imagining America without illegal immigrants: the millions of immigrants living illegally in the U.S. have long been a source of controversy. But what would life be like without them?(National)
February 23, 2004... Try imagining America without illegal immigrants--many of the people who flip the burgers, clean the toilets, and watch the kids. Would the country be a better place? President Bush reopened the national debate about immigration last month...

War without end? Japan sends troops to Iraq and Germany debates a Holocaust memorial--and both nations struggle with the legacies of their World War II conduct.(International)
February 23, 2004... Japan's decision last summer to send troops to aid the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq seemed natural enough since Japan and the U.S. are such close allies. But Japan has not sent soldiers into a combat zone since the end of World War II in 1945. As...

IM-ing: now it's all in the family: instant messaging is helping to break down barriers between parents and their children.(Technology)
February 23, 2004... Nina Gordon types out an instant message and sends it. The data travels some 500 miles, from the computer in her living room in Queens, N.Y., to America Online's servers in Northern Virginia, and then to her son Schuyler's computer, which just...

1980: Ronald Reagan goes to Washington: the Iranian hostage crisis and economic problems at home help send a former Hollywood actor to the White House.(Times Past)
February 23, 2004... Sometimes, seemingly insignificant moments in the heat of an election campaign turn out to be a lot more significant than they appeared. Such a moment occurred in Cleveland on Sunday, Oct. 28, 1980, during the only debate between incumbent...

Wishing away Korea's nukes.(Perspectives)
February 23, 2004... The place we should really rose steep over is North Korea, not Iraq. That's because Bush is in effect acquiescing as North Korea builds up its nuclear arsenal. An administration that was panicked about Iraq's virtually nonexistent nuclear...

A kinder, gentler Howard Dean?(Perspectives)(Brief Article)(Column)
February 23, 2004... Speaking hoarsely to an appreciative crowd [after placing third in the Iowa caucuses], Dean was doing his usual dancing on the head of the President, charging Bush with fighting the wrong war, appealing to the worst in Americans, dividing the...

Why Europe must let Turkey through the door.(Perspectives)(Brief Article)(Column)
February 23, 2004... While visiting Istanbul, I took a long walk along the Bosporus. There is nothing like standing at this stunning intersection of Europe and Asia to think about the dash of civilizations--and how we might avoid it. We are living at a remarkable...

Is a guest-worker program for illegal immigrants a good idea? President Bush has proposed an overhaul, of U.S. immigration policy. If enacted, it would affect millions of people.(Debate)
February 23, 2004... YES President Bush's plan to create a guest-worker program shows compassion and vision, and would have the added benefit of helping our economy. The President's proposal would let millions of illegal immigrants apply for three-year...

Touring and training on a visit to Israel.(Voices)(Column)
February 23, 2004... Last summer, while my friends were at the beach or working at day camps, I opted for a slightly different experience. Despite the tension in the Middle East, I decided, along with friends from my Jewish youth group, to travel around Israel for...

Cartoons.
February 23, 2004... WE'RE GONE TO THE MALL! THEN TO DINNER!! THEN ON TO A MOVIE!! THEN BACK HOME! YEEHAA!! DAD'S BEEN WATCHING TOO MANY HOWARD DEAN RALLIES Chris Britt * The State Journal-Register (Springfield, Ill.) * Copley News Service SO, WHICH...

Coming to America.(Graph Exercise)(Illustration)
February 23, 2004... Illegal immigration is a hot topic today, in part because the United States is a country populated almost entirely by the descendants of legal and illegal immigrants. From the first English settlers who arrived in ships to those arriving by jet...

Upfront quiz show.
February 23, 2004... Use with articles throughout the issue. Divide the class into 2-4 teams. Read the statements below, which are answers to questions. In this game, modeled after the TV show Jeopardy!, students must give their answers in the form of questions....