New York Times Upfront articles from February 2007

New York Times Upfront archives from February 2007

Letter from the editor.(death penalty)(Editorial)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... OUR COVER STORY EXAMINES the wrenching debate in the U.S. over the death penalty. Part of our series on the Constitution, the article looks at recent legal challenges to capital punishment, including whether current execution methods constitute...

Capital punishment: by the numbers.(GRAPH > NATIONAL)
February 5, 2007... As discussed in "The Death Penalty Debate," Americans are deeply divided over the issue of capital. punishment. Thirty-eight states and the federal government currently have the death penalty. But some states where it is legal (New Jersey...

In the news: Iran.(Cartoon)
February 5, 2007... Study the political cartoon below and answer the questions at right. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANALYZE THE CARTOON 1. Who is the man in the cartoon? 2. What is he leaning against? 3. What's the significance of the "Made in...

Game show.(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Use with articles identified. The statements are answers to questions (modeled after the TM show Jeopardy!). Students must answer in the form of questions. Divide the class into teams. Read the statements. Call on the first...

Stress and drug abuse.(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... --A message from Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of NIDA Dear Teacher: As a teacher you see students under stress every day--from pressures of over-scheduling to worries about how to fit in. This month's Heads Up article from the National...

Lesson plan & reproducible.(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Preparation: Before the lesson, make two photocopies of the Student Activity Reproducible for a pre- and post-lesson quiz. OBJECTIVE Students will understand and reinforce their knowledge of how stress affects the body, how drugs...

What do you know about stress and drug abuse?(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Answer the questions below to find out what you know about stress and its connection to drug abuse. 1. Short-term physical responses to stress include: a. a faster heart rate. b. sweaty palms. c. a pounding head. d. tense...

The Great Wall of China.(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: THE GREAT WALL of China is not just crumbling; some parts are disappearing (inset). About half the estimated 4,000 miles of the wall, which was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), no longer exists....

A hunk of what? Worth how much?!(ambergris law)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... It was certainly a departure from Christmas fruitcake. In December, Dorothy Ferreira of Montauk, N.Y., opened a package from her 82-year-old sister in Iowa to find an ungainly object that looked like a gnarled, funky candle. Her sister said it...

Numbers in the news.(news & TRENDS)
February 5, 2007... $8 billion ESTIMATED PORTION of the $80 billion spent on gift cards in 2006 that will never be redeemed by recipients. SOURCE: TOWER GROUP $54.3 million THE 2006 BONUS that was paid to LLoyd C. Blankfein, the chairman of...

Wal-Mart's bright idea.(Wal-Mart Stores Inc.)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Fluorescent light bulbs Last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, El use 75 percent less energy, produce fewer greenhouse gases from power plants, and save $30 over the life of each bulb. They also cost more, give off harsher light, contain...

A tan is so not to die for.(tanning salons to be restricted for those under 18)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... The unexplained increase in skin cancer among young people has health officials targeting the $5-billion-a-year indoor tanning industry. More than 2 million teenagers a year use tanning salons. But the American Medical. Association and the...

Noted & quoted.(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... 'You can be from the smallest town in America and be international news by lunchtime. So conduct yourself as if you're on the air at all times.' * A CRISIS-MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT in Los Angeles advising Internet users to exercise caution on...

A dress code for the yearbook?(Patrick Agin sues for free-speech rights to use photo in yearbook)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... A high school, senior was surprised by his school's refusal this fall to use a yearbook photo of him dressed in chain-mail armor with a broadsword slung over his shoulder. "I didn't think it was that big a deal," says Patrick Agin, 17, who goes...

Dancing with the stars (of the City Ballet).(David Prottas)(Interview)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... David Prottas, 19, who grew up near Boston and graduated from the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto, started an apprenticeship with the New York City Ballet last fall. He regularly puts in 12-hour days training, rehearsing, and...

Sent home.(deportations)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Stepped-up efforts by federal officials to enforce immigration laws led to a record 186,924 deportations in 2006. Deportations have increased more than 75 percent since 2000.

Speaking in (23) tongues.(standard languages)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... The European Union, established in 1992, is an alliance of 27 democratic countries. As the E.U. has grown, so has its list of official languages. There are now 23: Bulgaria and Romania just entered the union, and Gaelic has been recognized as...

Polo shoots for mass appeal.(United States Polo Association's Edward Armstrong)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Polo is no longer just for people like Prince Charles or the little guy on your designer shirt. Teachers, retail clerks, nurses, and even high school students are playing. "Certainly a lot of rich people play our sport, but you don't have to be...

Iran's students speak out: students played a key role in the 1979 revolution. Until recently, they had been largely silenced under Ahmadinejad's regime.(INTERNATIONAL)
February 5, 2007... BACKGROUND University students in Iran have been a political, force at least since 1979, when they helped spur the Islamic Revolution and seized the U.S. embassy. Mostly silent in recent years, they have begun protesting against the...

The death penalty debate: the United States is one of the few industrialized nations that still uses capital punishment. Under increasing scrutiny by the courts, it continues to stir strong feelings on both sides.(Cover story)
February 5, 2007... BACKGROUND The U. S. is in the midst of a "national. reconsideration" of the death penalty, one expert says. Eight states have temporarily halted executions, and New Jersey is considering abolishing them altogether. Supporters say the...

1974: the accidental president: Gerald Ford never ran for higher office, but after the Watergate scandal, he stepped into the presidency and helped the nation heal its wounds.(TIMES PAST)
February 5, 2007... BACKGROUND Gerald Ford is the only President never elected to either the presidency or the vice presidency. His pardon of Richard Nixon for his rote in the Watergate scandal. was wildly unpopular at the time, but many historians have come...

A day in the life of the lord: in the U.S., titles of nobility are prohibited by the Constitution. But kings, queens, dukes, and lords are still a big part of British society. In a recent interview, William Herbert, 28, tells what it's like to be an earl.(Interview)
February 5, 2007... What people call him: Friends call me Will. Normally, estate employees call me Lord Pembroke. * His house: Wilton House [near Salisbury, 80 miles southwest of London] was built by my family in 1542 on land given to the first earl...

Stress and drug abuse: the brain connection.(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... You are about to take a test. The coach is announcing who made the team. Your best friend is mad at you. Most people find such situations stressful. Stress can be defined as an emotional or physical demand or strain (a "stressor") that causes...

How your body responds to stress.(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Your body's central nervous, endocrine, immune, and cardiovascular systems are involved in responding to stress. The physical responses can vary: Short-term responses can cause a racing heart, sweaty palms, and a pounding head. Long-term...

Myth vs. reality.(stress management)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Myth 1: Drug abuse is harmful, but it does relieve stress. Reality: Some drugs of abuse affect your brain the same way stress does. Long-term abuse of drugs makes users more sensitive to everyday stress than non-users. Myth 2: All...

Latest research.(The National Institute on Drug Abuse)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... NIDA researchers have found the following connections between stress and drug abuse: * Stress can cause changes in the brain like those caused by addictive drugs. This suggests that some people who experience stress may be more vulnerable...

Managing stress.(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Anyone can learn to manage stress, but it does take practice. Here are some practical tips: * Take care of yourself. Healthy foods, exercise, and enough sleep really do make you feel better and better able to cope! * Focus. ...

Stressing out?(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Read what some teens have said causes them stress: Being Successful: "Between my job, homework, responsibilities at home, and studying for my SATs, it's easy to feel stressed out and overwhelmed." --Female, Los Angeles Being...

It's 10 p.m. want to know where your children are?(Global Positioning System usage)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Let's face it; we're in love with the idea of secret location trackers. In The Da Vinci Code, the bad guys slap a location tracking button onto Tom Hanks's clothing. In The Matrix, a location-tracking robot crawls into Keanu Reeves's abdomen....

In Africa, something new in the air: reform, and hope.(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... One of the biggest challenges facing Africa today is the need for better governance, meaning both less corruption and better economic policies. The single biggest reason Africa is so poor is that it has had unusually bad leadership. We should...

Never forget the history.(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Last month's college football national title game between Ohio State and the University of Florida was the first time in Bowl Championship Series history that two black starting quarterbacks have faced off in a national college championship...

Should the U.S. send additional troops to Iraq? President Bush's new plan for the war, which he announced last month, includes a "surge" of 20,000 more U.S. troops for Iraq.
February 5, 2007... YES It is a hard thing to change course in the middle of a war. I commend President Bush for recognizing past mistakes in Iraq and for outlining new steps on the military, economic, and political fronts. I believe that together these moves will...

Cartoons.(Cartoon)
February 5, 2007... CHINA ADAPTS TO THE INTERNET AGE... IT'S "MY SPACE" SIGNE WILKINSON * Philadelphia Daily News * THE WASHINGTON POST WRITERS GROUP [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MEDIEVAL SOCIETY. ADVANCED. MATT DAVIES * The Journal News...

Letter from the editor.(Editorial)
February 19, 2007... OUR 43 Presidents have all been white, male, and with one exception, Protestant. In our cover story, we look at Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Hillary Clinton, and Mitt Romney, and ask whether America is ready for a black, Hispanic, female, or...

The cost of war: in lives and dollars.
February 19, 2007... As discussed in the article "Vietnam: The War That's Still With Us," wars exact a great tort on the home front as weft as on the battlefield. During its history, the United States has fought in major wars at least once about every three...

Game show.
February 19, 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 class into teams. Read the statements. Call on the first...

A rare shark.(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... A RARE SHARK was videotaped on January 21 by officials at Awashima Marine Park in Namazu, Japan. The species, called the frilled shark because of its flaring gills, usually stays at depths of about 2,000 feet. According to the Reuters news...

Library louts.(public libraries ban children under 14 during after-school hours)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... With no place to hang out after school, some students are going to the public library--and many aren't there to study. Instead, they socialize, fight, and write on the walls. One Ohio library has banned children under 14 during after-school...

80.
February 19, 2007... DEPTH, IN FEET, to which a Rome subway tunnel will be burrowed so that it won't disturb archaeological remains, some of which date back to the Roman Empire. SOURCE THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

34,452.(Iraq war casualties)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... NUMBER OF IRAQI civilians killed during 2006. The figure, compiled by the United Nations, was based on reports from morgues, hospitals, and city officials across Iraq. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

11.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
February 19, 2007... NUMBER OF TIMES that Troy Sawyer, a 22-year-old aspiring singer from Kansas City, Mo., has auditioned unsuccessfully for American Idol. SOURCE: NEWSWEEK

$363.32.(Naomi Campbell ordered to pay in restitution)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... AMOUNT THAT supermodel Naomi Campbell was ordered to pay in restitution for throwing a cell phone at her maid. Campbell was also ordered to attend anger-management classes. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

51%.(percentage of American women living without )(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... PERCENTAGE OF American women living without a spouse in 2005, compared with 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

A hamburger war.(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Which American town was the birthplace of the hamburger? Folks in New Haven, Conn., will tell you that the burger was invented there in the early 1900s, at a Local eatery called Louis' Lunch. But Athens, Texas, now claims to be "the original...

Equal cheers draw some jeers.(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Cheerleaders at Whitney Point High School in upstate New York are adjusting their routines: Sometimes, it's "'Hands up, you girls" instead of "Hands up, you guys." They're complying with a new federal ruling on Title IX, the law intended to...

Noted & quoted.(quotations)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... '40 percent of you need to Lose weight. When you Love potluck more than God, it's serious.' * THE PASTOR of a Baptist church in Annandale, Va., introducing his congregation to "faith-based dieting," which is growing in popularity across...

Billboards get personal.(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Would those long trips on the Interstate be a tittle less dreary if the road signs knew your name? In January, Mini USA began delivering custom messages on "talking" digital billboards to drivers of Mini Coopers who supplied the company with...

Medina's journey: from Square One to Queen.(Q&A)(Interview)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Medina Parrilla, 15, has been playing chess since she was in kindergarten. Now she's ranked No. 6 in the country among girls under 16. Upfront talked to the sophomore at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, N.Y. Q How did you get...

Fewer children.(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Americans today tend to have kids more as a matter of choice than out of religious obligation or economic necessity. More adults are choosing to Live alone, and women are marrying later. PERCENTAGE OF U.S. HOUSEHOLDS WITH AT LEAST ONE...

Towns vanish, then reappear.(maps)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... When Georgia issued its new state map in December, many of its residents felt slighted--especially those living in places like Poetry Tulip, Between, and Centralhatchee. Those towns and more than 500 others had been omitted. Georgia's...

Psychic squirrels.(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Red squirrels living in the Canadian Yukon and Europe seem to be psychic when it comes to food. Researchers report that the animals are able to predict when spruce trees will produce an overabundance of seed cones, their main food source. The...

Pesos for pizzas? A Texas-based pizza chain begins accepting Mexican pesos as well as dollars--and hits a nerve in the ongoing debate over immigration.(Pizza Patron Inc.)
February 19, 2007... One recent evening on their way home from a construction job, Jose Ramirez and two friends stopped at a Pizza Patron in Dallas for dinner. Ramirez ordered a Hawaiian pizza and a La Patrona--a large pizza with the works. The two pies cost him...

Will Americans vote outside the box? For more than 200 years, American Presidents have been, with one exception, white, male, and Protestant. In 2008, a number of presidential 'firsts' are possible.(Cover story)
February 19, 2007... BACKGROUND The old saying that "any boy can grow up to be President" was never true for women or minorities [and rarely for non-Protestants). But in 2008, there's a chance that a woman, a black, a Hispanic, or a Mormon could win the White...

What's in s Mascot? When the N.C.A.A. cracked down on Indian mascots last year, not every tribe applauded. A look at the relationship between the Seminoles and Florida State University.
February 19, 2007... Before the first players take the field at a Florida State University football game, a student dressed as Chief Osceola, a 19th-century Seminole warrior, rides a horse to the 50-yard line and throws a flaming spear into the ground. The fans,...

Hurricane Hugo: Venezuela's populist President, Hugo Chavez, has begun to back up his anti-American and socialist bluster with action. Is he turning into an old-style Latin American strongman?(INTERNATIONAL)
February 19, 2007... BACKGROUND President Hugo Chavez has moved Venezuela further toward socialism, with heated anti-U.S. rhetoric, plans to nationalize Large foreign companies, and rule by decree. Washington sees Chavez's anti-democratic moves as potential...

On thin ice: the Arctic territory where polar bears roam is literally melting out from under them.
February 19, 2007... BACKGROUND Polar bears, which live in relative isolation in the Arctic, are not often front-page news. But many scientists see their melting habitat as a warning sign of global warming's potential impact. Melting sea ice will raise ocean...

Vietnam the war that's still with us: more than three decades after the last soldiers came home, the longest war in American history still casts a long shadow.(TIMES PAST)
February 19, 2007... BACKGROUND Thirty years after the Last American soldier Left Vietnam, the echoes of that war stilt reverberate in the U.S. During the 2004 presidential election, President Bush and Senator John Kerry had to explain their actions during the...

Virtual science labs: web sites featuring simulated chemistry labs or virtual frog dissections are becoming popular teaching tools. But are they a substitute for hands-on experience?(EDUCATION)
February 19, 2007... Virtual chemistry labs and other online simulations, like the ones that let students dissect virtual frogs or pigs, have become widely used science teaching tools. They allow students to perform experiments that would be too costly or dangerous...

Should the U.S. close the prison at Guantanamo? There are 395 terrorism suspects being held at a high-security prison at the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.(DEBATE)
February 19, 2007... YES Five years after the Guantanamo Bay prison was opened to detain terror suspects, it has been a failure by almost any measurement. It has become a global symbol of injustice, is counterproductive in U.S. efforts to combat terrorism, and...

Living with AIDS in Africa.(Viewpoint essay)
February 19, 2007... Every morning when I wake up, go to my drawer, take out the mirror, and look at myself. Then I say my prayer. I say, "Hello, H.I.V., you trespasser. You are in my body. You have to obey the rules. You have to respect me, and if you don't hurt...

Happy birthday, Champ!(OPINION)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... At 65, you're still the people's heavyweight champion. You're the reason the best boxing now is on ESPN Classic, when you, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman dominated the Golden Era of heavyweight boxing. With or without the title, you fought all...

Will China choke on its own growth?(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... It's starting to feel like China is reaching its environmental limits. If it doesn't radically change to "greener," more sustainable modes of transportation, production, and power generation, the China miracle will turn into an eco-nightmare....

What $1 trillion can buy [besides the war in Iraq).(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... It's hard for the human mind to make sense of a figure Like $1 trillion. Millions, billions, trillions--they all sound the same. The best way to come to grips with that much money is to think about what you could buy with it: $1 trillion would...

Cartoons.(Comic)(Cartoon)
February 19, 2007... Terrific! Fantastic! He hasn't even sung yet. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CLAY BENNETT * The Christian Science Monitor I'm open to suggestions.... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] STEVE SACK * Star Tribune (Minneapolis) *...