New York Times Upfront articles from February 2008

New York Times Upfront archives from February 2008

Kites.(NEWS & TRENDS)(Brief article)
February 11, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] KITES are once again soaring over Afghanistan. Banned under the Taliban, kite-fighting, as its name suggests, is not a peaceful day in the park for the men and boys who compete, but an aerial battle. The kite string...

Billionaires on a roll.(MONEY)(Brief article)
February 11, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Both the number of the world's billionaires and their total wealth have increased sharply in recent years, according to Forbes. The magazine reported a record 946 billionaires for 200?. Microsoft founder Bill Gates...

Unearthed: an Aztec pyramid.(MEXICO)(Brief article)
February 11, 2008... Mexico City may be at least a century older than previously thought. Archaeologists recently unearthed the ruins of an 800-year-old Aztec pyramid in the heart of the Mexican capital. The ruins, which are about 36 feet high, were found in the...

Boy Scout saves president!!!(ASIA)(Mohammed Jaisham Ibrahim)(Brief article)
February 11, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A 15-year-old Boy Scout in the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, is being hailed as a national hero after defending the nation's President from a would-be assassin. On January 8, Mohammed Jaisham...

Chewing for dollars.(GUM)( Sue McNamara)(Brief article)
February 11, 2008... Everyone wants Sue McNamara's job. Four mornings a week, she sits in a spotless room in a lab coat, chews gum, and talks about how it tastes. McNamara is a gum taster at Cadbury Schweppes Science and Technology Center in Whippany, N.J. "I have...

A dream denied?(SPORTS)(Oscar Pistorius)
February 11, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Oscar Pistorius, a doubte-amputee sprinter from South Africa, has been ruled ineligible to compete in this summer's Olympics in Beijing. [See Upfront's Oct. 1, 2007, cover story.] Pistorius's severely deformed legs...

764.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
February 11, 2008... 764 AVERAGE GUESS OF McDonald's customers at the number of calories in a 911 -calorie meal, they had just eaten. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

$1,000.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
February 11, 2008... $1,000 PROPOSED FINE FOR feeding pigeons in New York City. It's already illegal to feed pigeons in London's Trafalgar Square, and Venice may soon outlaw the sale of birdseed in St. Mark's Square. A pigeon leaves behind about 25 pounds of waste...

3,491.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
February 11, 2008... 3,491 NUMBER OF CHILDREN in China whose parents have named them Aoyun--"Olympics"--in honor of this summer's Games in Beijing SOURCE: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

35%.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
February 11, 2008... 35% PERCENTAGE OF teenage girls online who have created a blog, compared with 20 percent of teenage boys online. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

$2.7.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
February 11, 2008... $2.7 million ESTIMATED COST OF A 30-second commercial during Super Bowl, XLII on February 3. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

DNA: too much information? As scientists unravel the mysteries of DNA, concerns arise about its potential misuse.
February 11, 2008... When scientists first decoded the human genome in 2000, they portrayed it as proof of humankind s remarkable similarity.. The DNA of any two people, they said, is at least 99 percent identical. Now, however, researchers are exploring the...

The most dangerous nation in the world? A nuclear-armed U.S. ally, Pakistan has been in turmoil for months: Why Washington, and the world, are so worried about what lies ahead.(INTERNATIONAL)
February 11, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As one crisis after another has gripped Pakistan in the last few months violent protests against the government, martial law, suicide bombings, the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the...

South Korea welcomes its daughters: in a nation where boys were kings, an economic revolution is helping to change long-held values and traditions.(INTERNATIONAL)
February 11, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When Park He-ran was a young mother, other women would approach her to ask what her secret was. She had given birth to three boys in a row at a time when South Korean women considered it their paramount duty to bear...

The low down on hydrocodone: the active ingredient in many prescription pain relievers such as Vicodin[R] is a powerful drug--and dangerous when not used as prescribed.(HEADS UP REAL NEWS ABOUT DRUGS AND YOUR BODY)
February 11, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There is great news from the latest Monitoring the Future (MTF) Study, a survey that tracks teen drug use from year to year: Overall drug abuse is down among teens. Unfortunately, there's some bad news too: Abuse of...

Over a barrel: how sky-high oil prices affect everything from what you pay to fill up your tank to American influence around the globe.(Cover story)
February 11, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A cross the country, it's costing people a lot more to gas up their cars. Prices of goods and services from snack foods to postage are starting to creep up. And thousands of miles away from the United States, the...

The car that changed America: how Henry Ford's 1908 Model T--the first mass-produced and affordable car--sparked the growth of highways, surburbs, and the middle class itself.(TIMES PAST)
February 11, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] It all began a century ago in a factory on Piquette Avenue in Detroit. In a secret back room on the third floor, Henry Ford, who by then had been building cars for several years, drew up plans for a new one....

India: innovate or imitate? Why India shouldn't copy America's car culture--for its own benefit, and the world's.(OPINION)
February 11, 2008... India is in serious danger, but not from traditional threats like Pakistan or internal strife, india is in danger from an Indian-made vehicle: the world's cheapest passenger car. In January, india's Tata Motors unveiled the Nano [pictured...

Should teens be banned from tanning salons? Twendy-eight states regulate access to tanning facilities for minors.(Debate)
February 11, 2008... YES Every day, more than l million Americans, including many teenagers, use tanning salons. In recent years, the numbers have continued to rise despite the known risks, which include premature aging, age spots, wrinkles, and most significantly,...

Cartoons.(Cartoon)
February 11, 2008... MY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION? NO NEGATIVE CAMPAIGN ADS IN 2008! GOOD IDEA. I VOW NOT TO RUN, EITHER. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HAND IT OVER... ALL OF IT! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PENNSYLVANNIA MAN WHO SPENT 22 YRS ON DEATH ROW...

America's 'addition' to foreign oil.(GRAPH NATIONAL)(Brief article)(Graph)
February 11, 2008... America's first oil well was drilled in 1859, not in Texas, where you might expect, but back east, in Titusville, Pa. Over the next century, oil transformed the United States from an agricultural to an industrial nation. But the supply of...

Game show.(Brief article)
February 11, 2008... * 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...

Political cartoon.(CARTOON ANALYSIS)(Cartoon)
February 11, 2008... ANALYZE THE CARTOON 1. Who is the man on the Left? 2. What do the knives in the African man represent? 3. Why are the men yelling at the news truck, and why is it speeding away? 4. What does the cartoon suggest about the media...

The inspiring life of a man who shaped our time.(Brief article)
February 11, 2008... "AUTHORITATIVE."--Booklist New York Times executive editor Bill Keller has written a fascinating biography of Nelson Mandela that puts his courage, purpose, passion and accomplishments in historical context for a new generation to admire....

The truth about hydrocodone.(HEADS UP REAL NEWS ABOUT DRUGS AND YOUR BODY)(Brief article)
February 11, 2008... Dear Teacher: While there is good news from the most recent Monitoring the Future Study showing the steady decline in the use of illicit drugs by teens over the past six years, abuse of prescription pain relievers like Vicodin[R] and...

Lessons plan & reproducible.(HEADS UP REAL NEWS ABOUT DRUGS AND YOUR BODY)(Brief article)
February 11, 2008... Preparation: Make copies of the activity reproducible (on the other side of this page) for each student. OBJECTIVES Students will learn about hydrocodone and the risks associated with its abuse; they will also learn about the dangers of...

Mayans celebrate.(Brief article)
February 25, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MAYANS CELEBRATE ancient rituals on the Great Plaza at Tikal National Park in northern Guatemala. Some parts of Tikal, the largest of the ruined Mayan cities, date back to 800 B.C. Although most Guatematans are Roman...

Tutoring goes global.(OUTSOURCING)(Brief article)
February 25, 2008... Kenneth Tham, a 10th-grader in Arcadia, Calif., has never seen the tutor who helps him with English and chemistry. Using a digital. pen and palette, Kenneth writes out exercises that appear on his screen and that of his tutor-halfway around the...

Why fido is living large.(PETS)(Brief article)
February 25, 2008... Our furry, finned, and feathered friends are more pampered than ever. Americans spent an estimated $41 billion on their pets last year, a 41 percent increase over the $29 billion spent in 2002, according to the American Pet Products...

Saving the planet in style.(ENVIRONMENT)(Brief article)
February 25, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The fashion industry has been slow to go green. For example, most clothing contains dyes that are pollutants. To raise awareness during New York Fashion Week last month, designers were asked to create "Earth...

A best--cellular list?(JAPAN)(Brief article)
February 25, 2008... Until recently, cell-phone novels--composed on phone keypads by young women with dexterous thumbs and read by fans on their tiny screens-had been dismissed by many in Japan as unworthy of the nation that gave the world its first novel, The Tale...

Dollars that jingle.(MONEY)(Brief article)
February 25, 2008... The U.S. Mint is releasing four new presidential onedollar coins this year. James Monroe appeared on February 14, to be followed by John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren. The new coins could save the U.S. Treasury about $150...

Merging two traditions.(MUSIC)(Brief article)
February 25, 2008... Ask Kareem Satama--billed as the first Muslim country-western singer--what makes his music "country" and he says, "Probably my accent." It's a genuine Southern drawl, rooted in Satama's rural Oklahoma childhood. The son of Egyptian immigrants,...

800%.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
February 25, 2008... PERCENTAGE INCREASE in patent applications in mainland China from 1995 to 2005. SOURCE: TIME

54%.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
February 25, 2008... PERCENTAGE OF VOTERS in the 2004 presidential. election who were female. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

$12,106.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
February 25, 2008... AVERAGE PREMIUM that American families paid for health insurance in 2006. For the first time, the total spent on health care in the U.S. topped $2 trillion. SOURCE: TIME

40.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
February 25, 2008... NUMBER OF HOURS per year that the typical American commuter spends stuck in traffic. SOURCE: WIRED

$300 billion.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
February 25, 2008... TOTAL PHILANTHROPIC contributions in the U.S. during 2006. U.S. charitable contributions exceed that of any other nation. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

Dateline: Baghdad: husband-and-wife correspondents for The Times in Iraq fear for each other's safety as roadside bombs explode and young soldiers die.(INTERNATIONAL)
February 25, 2008... My wife, Diana, saw the explosion from a Humvee parked a few hundred yards away. Dirt rose over the palm trees, a deep thud shook the ground, and Diana told herself I was nowhere near it. "I'm sure it was just a mortar," a soldier in the...

Iraq: what will the next president do? American officers on the ground in Iraq aren't sure that any of the candidates have realistic plans for how to move forward.
February 25, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For the past year, I have led a double Life, dividing my time between military reporting in Iraq and tracking the campaign debate at home. The American officers I met in Iraq think that white significant...

Why the world is watching: the race for the White House always generates interest overseas, but this year's campaign has people all over the globe paying extra close attention.(Cover story)
February 25, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From Berlin to Tokyo to Mexico City, the U.S. presidential election is making headlines. In fact, the ups and downs of the Democratic and Republican contenders are generating so much interest overseas that you might...

No I.D. no vote? Is requiring a photo I.D. a reasonable measure against fraud, or a deterrent to voting? The Supreme Court is Iikely to decide this spring.(National)
February 25, 2008... On Election Day last November, Valerie Williams went to the polling station in the lobby of her Indianapolis retirement home to vote. In doing so, she unwittingly walked into the middle of a national debate about voting rights and laws designed...

Dollar doldrums: for much of the world, America is on sale--and foreigners are snapping up bargains. But what does the "weak dollar" really mean, and how does its "fall" affect us?(ECONOMICS)
February 25, 2008... In the 2002 episode of The Simpsons in which the family heads to Toronto, Homer wins over an obstinate Canadian security guard by waving a single American dollar bill in his face. Fast forward six years. In his latest video, rapper Jay-Z...

1968 the my Lai massacre: forty years ago, in one of the lowest points of the Vietnam War, U.S. troops killed hundreds of unarmed civilians and the Army tried to cover it up.(TIMES PAST)
February 25, 2008... It happened at the height of the Vietnam War came to symbolize all that went wrong for America in that conflict. On March 16, 1968, in a village known as My Lai, American soldiers killed more than 400 unarmed Vietnamese civilians, among them...

Slackers, beware! That fat envelope is conditional. If your grades drop, some colleges won't hesitate to take it back.(COLLEGE)
February 25, 2008... You may have gotten a thick envelope with a congratulatory letter from the college admissions office. You may have told everyone where you're going. You're in, but remember: You're not done. After being accepted at Franklin & Marshall College,...

Earth will survive. Will we? What is our responsibility to future generations?(OPINION)(Viewpoint essay)
February 25, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Over the past few years, the questions have been' asked more and more forcefully: Do global climate changes occur in natural. cycles, and to what degree do humans contribute to them? What threats stem from them, and...

Should we elect the president by popular vote? After hundreds of attempts to abolish Electoral College, opponents are promoting a plan to work around it.(DEBATE)(Viewpoint essay)
February 25, 2008... YES With the Electoral College, voters in two-thirds of the states are effectively disenfranchised from choosing the President because they do not live in closely divided "battleground" states. Presidential candidates now have no...

Cartoons.(Cartoon)
February 25, 2008... Hello Johhny. This is your techer... up here at the front of the class... Got a minute? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BRUCE MACKINNON Halifax [Nova Scotia] Herald ARTIZANS IF I'M ELECTED, THIS WILL NOT BE A CO-PRESIDENCY ...

Africa: rich and poor.(GRAPH: INTERNATIONAL)(Graph)
February 25, 2008... The violence that began sweeping through Kenya in December after a disputed presidential election is just the latest turmoil in subSaharan Africa. It's no coincidence that one of the poorest regions in the world is also home to some of the most...

Game show.(Brief article)
February 25, 2008... * 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...

Political cartoon.(CARTOON ANALYSIS)(Brief article)
February 25, 2008... ANALYZE THE CARTOON 1. What was the historian going to say before being interrupted? 2. Who is the man to the right and how does his view differ from the historian's? 3. What current event is the cartoonist addressing? 4. How...