New York Times Upfront articles from January 2006

New York Times Upfront archives from January 2006

Fabien Cousteau.
January 9, 2006... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Fabien Cousteau climbs inside his "shark submersible"--a small submarine that lets him get close enough to great white sharks to study their behavior. Last spring, white making a documentary on great whites,...

Playing lax to the max.(lacrosse)(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... Lacrosse ("lax" for short), originated by Native Americans in the 1400s, is one of the fastest-growing high school sports in the U.S. One reason is that both boys and girls see it as an opportunity to win college athletic scholarships. Lacrosse...

Numbers in the news.(Google Inc.'s stock prices goes high)(steroids test for baseball players)(HIV infected people in the world)(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... 14 Number of infants that have been stopped from boarding planes because their names were on the government's no-fly list. SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 72% Percentage increase in manufacturing jobs in the U.S. created...

Mother of all alphabets?(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... In the 10th century B.C., just south of Jerusalem, someone carved his ABC's on a limestone boulder. Last July, archaeologists at the site in central Israel, Tel Zayit, found the inscribed stone in an ancient building. After an analysis, they...

A noise that annoys.(teens' behavior in convenience stores)(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... Rowdy teens used to hang out in front of the Spar convenience store in Barry, Wares. According to the store's owner, Robert Gough [rhymes with "tough"), they intimidated other customers and "they'd be in the shop fighting, stealing, and...

Noted & quoted.(SOUNDBITES)
January 9, 2006... 'If you get too tired to do your job, close your eyes for a moment and then get back to work.' --Zhou Liwei, a government spokesman in Liaoning, China, to workers who are vaccinating the country's 5.2 billion chickens against bird flu....

Time warp in the heartland.(Indiana state, different time zones)
January 9, 2006... Giving someone the time of day can be confusing if you live in Indiana. Host of the state's 92 counties are on Eastern time--except for the 10 counties that prefer Central. time. And most of Indiana never goes on daylight saving time, a refusal...

Student & Mayor: all in a day's work.(Michael Sessions, Hillside, Michigan)(Interview)
January 9, 2006... At 18, Michael Sessions is thought to be America's youngest Mayor ever. In November, he was sworn in as Mayor of Hillsdale, Mich. (population 9,000), after defeating the 51-year-old incumbent. Up front spoke to Sessions, a senior at Hillsdale...

A Federal spending spree?(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... As with any household budget, when the government spends more money than it takes in, the result is a deficit. Federal deficits could force a rise in taxes. WHERE THE MONEY GOES (2005) SOCIAL SECURITY 21% MILITARY ...

Buying books one page at a time.(THE WEB)
January 9, 2006... Trying to do for books what itunes has done for music, Amazon and Google are both developing systems to allow users to buy and download any page, section, or chapter of a book. But there is already controversy among publishers, authors, and...

A mathematical war of words.(GAMES)(World Scrabble Championship)
January 9, 2006... Zobo (a type of Himalayan cattle) could not quite triumph over qanat (an irrigation channel), and the contestant was birsled (scorched). So ended the eighth World Scrabble Championships in London in November. Adam Logan, 30, a mathematician...

The power of one? How much of an impact does a new Justice have on the Supreme Court--and on the everyday lives of most Americans?(NATIONAL)
January 9, 2006... BACKGROUND Supreme Court rulings do affect ordinary Americans. Two examples: Brown v. Board of Education (1954) barred racial, segregation in public schools. Grove City College v. Bell (1984) barred gender discrimination in schools...

Islam in America: young members of this ethnically diverse community are trying to forge their own identity in the post-9/11 world.(NATIONAL)
January 9, 2006... BACKGROUND Since 9/11, American Muslims have reported a rise in anti-Muslim feelings. In some cases, this has included violence directed against individuals or mosques. "Islam in America" takes a took at Muslims in the U.S., with a focus...

Is it a show or a commercial? Viewers beware: now that skipping the ads is so easy, products are being scripted directly into TV show.(MEDIA)
January 9, 2006... On a recent episode of the WB's What I Like About You, the character played by the show's young star, Amanda Bynes, competes against a friend to be in a shampoo commercial. It seems like a fairly typical plot line, but in fact, it's been...

Choking on progress: soaring levels of pollution are a dangerous side effect of China's economic boom.(INTERNATIONAL)
January 9, 2006... Economic growth tops 9 percent! Textile exports jump 500 percent! The steady stream of statistics trumpeting China's booming economy is often viewed by the rest of the world with a combination of amazement and envy. But one statistic...

Fyodor's Russia: the shortages and bread lines are gone, but Russians like Fyodor Sozontov, 18, have new concerns--like war, corruption, and a growing rich-poor divide.
January 9, 2006... BACKGROUND Russia, the Largest republic in the former Soviet Union, remains the world's Largest country and one of its most powerful. Today, many in the West are wary of Russia's apparent slide back toward authoritarian rule. "Fyodor's...

1991: the end of apartheid: South Africa's race laws were abolished after a long, sometimes violent struggle.(TIMES PAST)
January 9, 2006... BACKGROUND Beginning with their arrival in the Late 1600s, white Europeans relegated the indigenous people of South Africa and other nonwhites to a subclass with fewer rights. Apartheid Laws, passed in 1750, led to a backlash by blacks and...

The Genocide in Darfur.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... When the Arab men in military uniforms [known as the janjaweed] caught Noura Moussa, 22, and raped her, they took the trouble to explain themselves. "We cannot let black people live in this land," they said. Moussa is one of thousands of women...

They're heroes abroad, but unknown at home.(Christopher Ieva)(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... Why aren't there more stories about war heroes like Capt. Christopher Ieva? On May 8, Ieva led a Marine assault in Iraq as part of Operation Matador, an effort to clean out insurgent safe havens in towns along the Iraqi-Syrian border. By the...

What Google should roll out next: a privacy upgrade.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... Google has long presented itself as a force for good in the technology world. In many ways, it has lived up to that reputation. But Google should do a better job of including users in decisions about how their personal information is collected,...

Surviving Katrina, starting a new life.(Hurricane Katrina, 2005)
January 9, 2006... The morning of Sunday, Aug. 28, was chaos in my family's New Orleans home. A Category 5 hurricane was headed right for us, and everyone was running around trying to get ready. My parents told me to pack clothes for a week, since we had decided...

Is it time for an exit strategy from Iraq? As American casualties mount, there's more talk about setting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops.(DEBATE)
January 9, 2006... YES Last February, I went to Iraq and had a chance to talk to a top allied military leader about how our operation was going. He said "nothing would take the wind out of the sails of the insurgents more" than having a timetable for bringing our...

Cartoons.(Cartoon)
January 9, 2006... I SEE THEY'RE PRINTING NUTRITIONAL INFO ON FASTFOOD WRAPPERS. APPARENTLY HE DECIDED THE WRAPPER WAS HEALTHIER. Steve Breen * The San Diego Unio-Tribune * Copley News Service White House unveils its plan for victory in Iraq. ...

Letter from the editor.(Samuel A. Alito Jr. nominated for Supreme Court)(Brief Article)(Editorial)(Cover Story)
January 9, 2006... Welcome back to the second half of the school year. We hope you had a nice break. With confirmation hearings set for January on the nomination to the Supreme Court of Samuel A. Alito Jr., this issue of Upfront examines how much of an...

America's Muslims: by the numbers.
January 9, 2006... Before the events of 9/11, the increasing number of Muslims living in the U.S. attracted little notice. But over the last few decades Islam has become one of the fastest-growing religions in America. There are now more than 1,200 mosques in the...

Game show.
January 9, 2006... 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 team...

On the beach in Khao Lok, Thailand.(Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami, 2004's damage)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: On the beach in Khao Lok, Thailand, a cloud of floating Lanterns commemorates the first anniversary of the tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26, 2004. The massive waves, generated by an...

Mining India's talent.(TECHNOLOGY)(Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp.'s internship program "Code4 Bill")(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, is launching a contest this month to identify promising software students in India. The top prize is a one year internship with Gates's technical team at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash. The...

Hail to the chief juror?(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... Due to a scheduling conflict, a certain McLennan County rancher was unable to report on Dec. 5, 2005, for jury duty in Waco, Texas. "The President has other commitments," said the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan. No problem, said Judge...

An NBA makeover.(SPORTS)(National Basketball Association's players dress code changed)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... When the National Basketball Association imposed a business-casual, dress code this season, many prayers grumbled about having to modify their off-court attire. The baggy jeans, hats, over-size jerseys, and do-rags favored by players like Allen...

Numbers in the news.(amount spet on imported toys, number of credit cards used per house hold, average debt and literacy rate in United States)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... 23.6 billion Amount in dollars the U.S. spends yearly on imported toys, more than the next 10 highest toy-importing nations combined. SOURCE: HARPER'S 26% Percentage increase expected in U.S. home-heating bills this winter,...

Noted & quoted.(SOUNDBITES)
January 30, 2006... 'It's not just standing on sidelines with pompoms going, rah, rah, rah.' --An orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine in Rockville, Md., on the recent rise in cheerleading injuries, due to what researchers say are increasingly...

Float like a butterfly.(ENVIRONMENT)(monarch butterflies' protection against logging)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... This past November, Francisco Gutierrez fulfilled a long-herd dream. He became a butterfly. Gutierrez flew some 4,375 mites in an ultralight plane, following monarch butterflies as they migrated from Montreal to Michoacan State in the western...

Taking an olympic dream out for a spin.(Kimmie Meissner, skater)(Interview)
January 30, 2006... When Kimmie Meissner, 16, of Bel Air, Md., won the bronze medal at the 2005 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships, she became the first woman to land a triple axel in 14 years. Now she hopes to skate her way to the 2006 Winter Olympic...

Probing the need for sleep.(SCIENCE)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
January 30, 2006... To better understand why we humans sleep as we do--and why sleep even exists--scientists are examining the slumber habits of a wide range of animal species. HOURS OF EYE POSITION ANIMAL SLEEP PER DAY...

Saying !!#%! means paying $$$$.(LANGUAGE ARTS)(students are fined for verbal abuse)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... Students at two high schools in Hartford, Conn., are finding that foul Language is not only offensive, it can also be expensive. PoLice officers at Bulkeley and Hartford high schools now issue tickets to students for cursing. The fine: $103....

College lectures on the go.(EDUCATION)(students use MP3 players)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... Podcasts--online audio recordings that can be downloaded onto an iPod or other MP3 player--are increasingly being tested as an educational toot. Now, every word of every lecture in a semester can be made available to students with access to an...

Locked away forever: almost 10,000 Americans are serving life sentences for crimes they committed before they turned 18.(NATIONAL)
January 30, 2006... One night when she was just 15, Rebecca Falcon got drunk and made the decision that derailed her life. Now, she is serving a life sentence without parole at the Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala, Fla. Looking back, Falcon faults her...

'This is not college'.(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... In Louisiana, a life sentence comes without the possibility of parole, and teenagers as young as 14 who commit certain crimes can be tried--and sentenced--as adults. A 14-year-old boy receiving a life sentence would serve his first four years...

In the line of fire: officially, American women do not serve in combat roles, but in Iraq, they're on the front lines as never before.(Cover Story)
January 30, 2006... For her first raid of an Iraqi home, Private Safiya Boothe, 21, had no idea what to expect. Tucking herself behind a group of men from her Army unit, her soft features hidden by full battle gear, she tried to be as anonymous as possible....

Desperate to make the grade: in one of India's poorest regions, a driven 17-year-old dreams of someday working at NASA.
January 30, 2006... Anupam Kumar, 17, is the eldest son of a scooter-rickshaw driver. He lives in a three-room house made of bricks and a tin roof, where water rarely comes out of the tap and the electricity is off more than on. The home sits on a narrow unpaved...

1947: the end of the Raj: thirty years of nonviolent protests led by Gandhi forced the British out of the Indian subcontinent, and gave birth to both India and Pakistan.
January 30, 2006... Mohandas K. Gandhi bent down, grabbed a handful Jof salty mud, and held it up in the air. "With this," he declared, "I am shaking the foundations of the British empire." It was April 6, 1930, and Gandhi, the 61-year-old Indian nationalist...

Is torture ever justified? The war on terror is a fight against a very different kind of enemy. Does that justify different rules of engagement?(DEBATE)
January 30, 2006... YES Imagine this scenario: A terrorist has planted a nuclear bomb in New York City. It will go off in one hour. A million people will die. You capture the terrorist. He knows where it is. He's not talking. If you have the slightest...

Fans don't let fans get rowdy.(OPINION)(2006 World Cup in Germany)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... At this summer's 2006 World Cup in Germany, officials fear terrorism more than hooliganism, but they are preparing for everything. Fans and governments are learning to dear with the thugs in their midst, and nasty fans may be under pressure to...

A video game that teaches battling hunger, not people.(OPINION)(United Nations' World Food Program's Food Force)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... Last April, the UN World Food Program introduced Food Force, a computer video game to teach children about global hunger. One of a new category of peace games, it has become the most unlikely of cult sensations. No one shoots anyone in Food...

Months after Katrina, still no major recovery effort.(post disaster reconstruction)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... Two weeks after Hurricane Katrina, President Bush promised big things for the Gulf Coast region. But more than three months tater, a major reconstruction effort isn't in the planning stage, let atone under way. By letting the Gulf region...

Cartoons.(Comic)(Cartoon)
January 30, 2006... I AM AN IRAQI FREEDOM FIGHTER!... WELL, YES... YOURS CERTAINLY FIGHTING FREEDOM. Bob Gorrell * www.gorrellart.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE U.S. * DOES NOT TORTURE ** IN SECRET PRISONS + ABROAD * Other do it for us ...

Letter from the editor.(TEACHER'S EDITION)
January 30, 2006... With the Iraq war soon to enter its third year, our cover story examines the expanding role women are playing in America's armed forces. Officially, the Pentagon still does not permit women in combat, but in Iraq, the front lines can be...

Political cartoon.(CARTOON ANALYSIS)(Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2006... Study the political cartoon below, which deal with an ongoing debate about the Patriot Act, and answer the questions at right. Have you seen where I left the letter I was writing to our congressman, raising concerns about the Patriot Act?...

Game show.
January 30, 2006... 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 team...