New York Times Upfront articles from February 2009

New York Times Upfront archives from February 2009

Roping sacred cows.(INDIA)(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... He doesn't own a wide-brimmed hat or a pair of jeans. But Bravjeer Singh is an authentic urban cowboy: He's one of 165 "cow catchers" who rope cattle on the streets of India's capital, New Delhi. Because Hindus consider cows sacred, killing the...

A star is born.(NEWS & TRENDS)(President Barack Obama's pen)(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... Photographers immortalized the pen President Barack Obama was about to use to sign his first executive orders on January 21, the day after his inauguration, The media glare is always bright during a presidential transition. But a pen? Mundane...

Was Oliver really hungry?(FOOD)(Charles Dickens's 1839 novel Oliver Twist)(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Please, sir, I want some more. It may be one of the most famous lines in English literature, known not only to those who've read Charles Dickens's 1839 novel Oliver Twist, but also to all who've seen the Broadway...

Google gets the flu.(THE WEB)(Google Flu Trends)(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... When Americans think they're coming down with the flu, a lot of them type phrases like "flu symptoms" into search engines before they cart their doctors. Multiplied across millions of Internet users, that simple act has given rise to Google Flu...

From college to the circus.(CAREERS)( identical twins )(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Many identical twins wear the same clothes and can finish each other's sentences. But the LaSalle brothers can catch each other's juggling dubs white doing back flips with one standing on the other's shoulders. Jake...

1 billion.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
February 16, 2009... NUMBER OF SONGS purchased and downloaded online in 2008, a 27 percent increase over 2007. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

7.2%.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
February 16, 2009... U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT rate in December 2008--the highest in 16 years. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

705,000.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)
February 16, 2009... NUMBER OF MEXICANS caught trying to cross the border illegally into the U.S. in 2008--the lowest number since 1976. SOURCE: USA TODAY

13.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)(internet usage)(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... NUMBER OF HOURS PER week that consumers ages 18 to 27 say they use the Internet, compared with 10 hours of TV viewing. SOURCE: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

1,000.(NUMBERS IN THE NEWS)(number of lawyers who volunteered to defend Muntader al-Zaidi)(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... NUMBER OF LAWYERS who volunteered to defend Muntader al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush in Baghdad in December. SOURCE: TIME

Roach escape routes.(BUGS)(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] You might want to brush up on your geometry the next time you try to get rid of a cockroach. According to a recent study, these unloved insects choose one of several preferred angles when running from predators,...

Obama tourism.(AFRICA)(President Barack Obama)(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Barack Obama's journey to the White House has fascinated the people of Kenya, where the President's father was born. (In fact, while much of the world focused on the election of a black man as America's President,...

Cheap oil: good news & bad news: paying less at the pump feels great, but there's a real downside. Here's why gas at $2 a gallon isn't the cause for celebration it appears to be.(THE ECONOMY)
February 16, 2009... When gas prices soared last summer, Doug Guidry of Vinton, Louisiana, gave up drag racing and boating. Billy Castaneda put off car trips from Vinton to Houston to see his grandchildren. Now, with gas about $2 a gallon (less than half the...

After Guantanamo: President Obama has ordered the closing of the prison at Guantanamo and pledged to respect American values in the fight against terrorism. Will his actions make the U.S. safer?(NATIONAL)
February 16, 2009... Consider the case of Mohammed al-Qahtani, the man authorities believe trained to be the "20th hijacker" in the 9/11 attacks. Al-Qahtani was captured near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in December 2001 and sent to the Guantanamo detention...

The price of going to class: in Afghanistan, a resurgent Taliban is doing everything it can to keep girls out of school. But some refuse to give in.(Cover story)
February 16, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One morning last November, 17-year-old Shamsia Husseini and her sister were walking through the muddy streets of Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, to the local girls school. A man pulled alongside them on a...

21st-century pirates: armed gangs of Somalis are threatening international shipping and hurting an already weak global economy.(INTERNATIONAL)
February 16, 2009... Rear Admiral Giovanni Gumiero of the Italian Navy is on a pirate hunt. From the deck of a destroyer cruising the pirate-infested waters of the Indian Ocean off Somalia's coast, he has all the modem tools-radar, sonar, infracameras, helicopters,...

Stimulant addiction: stimulants, such as cocaine, present serious health risk--they can damage your brain and your body.(HEADS UP REAL NEWS ABOUT DRUGS AND YOUR BODY: A Message Scholastic and The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA))
February 16, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jeremy had always been popular in school. But when he was 13 years old, he began to change. Jeremy started worrying more about whether he was "cool" and if people liked him. "I became shy and introverted," says...

Kevin Laue takes his shot: an 18-year-old's disability hasn't stopped him from becoming a college basketball prospect.(SPORTS)
February 16, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The fact that 18-year-old Kevin Laue's left arm ends at the elbow hasn't kept him on the sidelines. Playing for Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, the 6-foot-10-inch college basketball prospect from California...

1999 the Clinton impeachment: ten years ago, 100 U.S. senators served as jurors and deliberated whether to remove President Bill Clinton from office after his impeachment by the House of Representatives.(TIME PAST)
February 16, 2009... Every four years, Americans witness the dignified ceremony of a presidential inauguration, as we did last month for Barack Obama. But 10 years ago, a very different proceeding in Washington was something that no living American had seen--the...

Why Obama should swing for the fences: America's future depends on a radica/ departure from business as usual.(OPINION)
February 16, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Now that we have elected a bLack President, we need to make some more history and reboot, revive, and reinvigorate America. I hope Barack Obama is a closet radical. Not radical. left or right, just a radical,...

Is it time to end affirmative action? California, Michigan, Washington, Florida, and Nebraska have banned its use in public education and hiring.(DEBATE)
February 16, 2009... YES America is dedicated to the principle of equal. treatment of all its citizens by government. The Declaration of Independence proclaims that all men are created equal, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires that all Americans be...

Cartoons.
February 16, 2009... SO, WHICH ONE DO YOU LIKE? MAYBE I SHOULD JUST DO THE JOB BEFORE I PICK AN OFFICIAL PORTRAIT. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DAVID HORSEY * Seattle Post-Intelligencer START BY FIGHTING POVERTY [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PATRICK...

Game show.(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... * 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...

Cartoon analysis.(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 1 What does the basket represent? Who left it for President Obama? 2 Why do you think the cartoonist chose to stack everything so precariously? 3 What might Obama's size in relation to the basket represent?...

Photo analysis.(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] What do you think is going on in this photograph, and what does it tell you about Guantanamo? How does Guantanamo differ from prisons in the U.S.? How do you think the U.S. soldiers and the prisoners feet...