New York Times Upfront articles from May 2004

New York Times Upfront archives from May 2004

Corretion.(Correction Notice)
May 10, 2004... In an article on the moon landing in the April 26 issue, the name of an astronaut was misspelled. It is Alan Shepard, not Alan Shephard.

Before you head off for the summer ...(Letter From The Editor)
May 10, 2004... This is the last issue of the school year for Upfront, and we wanted to thank you for spending part of it with us. When we return in September, we'll be paying particularly close attention to the election. You get to experience a presidential...

South Florida is becoming a dumping ground for exotic pets not native to the region, like this Burmese python captured fast year in Everglades National Park.(news & trends)
May 10, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: South Florida is becoming a dumping ground for exotic pets not native to the region, like this Burmese python captured fast year in Everglades National Park. When local pet owners find their boa constrictors...

C'mon--get mad already!(Finland)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... In stoic Finland, displaying emotions like anger Is taboo. A car accident, for instance, brings not blame and insults, but a polite exchange of information. A bus breakdown causes no complaints; Finns just file off the bus and try to push it to...

Numbers in the news.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... 1954 Year that Congress added the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance, currently the subject of a case before the Supreme Court. (See p. 10) SOURCE THE NEW YORK TIMES 1,669 Number of hours that the average American...

Reality shows get pickier.(Television)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... The casting of reality shows, once an intuitive endeavor, has become much more of a science. To win- now a quarter million applicants down to 16 cast members for the second season of the NBC hit The Apprentice, producers are subjecting the...

Instant widowhood.(France)
May 10, 2004... In France, it's possible to marry the dead, thanks to a law that turns the vow "till death us do part" on its head. "I had what you can call a perfect wedding," says Christelle Demichel, 34, who in February carried a bouquet of yellow roses as...

Noted & quoted.(Soundbites)
May 10, 2004... 'Let them who want to make fun of me do it. I will continue to learn.' --Kimani Nganga Maruge, who at 84 is a first-grade student in Kenya. Millions of new pupils enrolled last year after the Kenyan government declared that education would...

Probing Kerry for punch lines.(Political Humor)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... Late-night comedians still haven't quite pegged Senator John Kerry, the likely Democratic nominee for President. It's become a ritual of latenight talk shows to turn presidential candidates into stock characters like Bush the Dumb Frat Boy,...

The sky's no limit for this daredevil.(Q&A)(Jamail Larkins )(Interview)
May 10, 2004... Jamail Larkins first flew an airplane at age 12. Now 20, he is the country's youngest air-show pilot. The sophomore at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida talked to UPFRONT about flying. How did you get into trying at such a...

Battling portals.(The Web)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... Google is the most popular Web search engine, ahead of Yahoo! and others, as the top graph shows. In April, Google unveiled a new e-mail service--Gmail--that is sure to heat up the battle of Web portals. SHARE OF 'SEARCH' MARKET ...

To get the truth send and e-mail.(Technology)
May 10, 2004... Truthfulness prevails in e-mail messages, a new study has found. Students who tracked their ties for a week reported letting ties in 15 percent of e-mail messages, compared with more than a third of phone carts, 25 percent of face-to-face...

Ready to take on Vietnam.(Video Games)
May 10, 2004... Three decades after the withdrawal of U.S. troops and the fall of Saigon to the Communist North, the video-game industry is finally ready to confront the Vietnam War. Battlefield Vietnam and Vietcong: Purple Haze are already available; and...

Does God belong in the Pledge? Fifty years ago, Congress added 'under God' to the Pledge of Allegiance. A California atheist claims that recitation of the phrase in public schools violates the Constitution.(National)
May 10, 2004... Michael A. Newdow stood before the Justices of the Supreme Court on March 24, pointed to one of the courtroom's two American flags, and declared: "I am an atheist. I don't believe in God." With passion and precision, he argued his own case...

When the games began: the Greeks competed in the equivalent of the Olympics 2,800 years ago. Now, as the Games return to Athens in August, recent archaeological findings are shedding new light on those ancient contests.(Cover Story)
May 10, 2004... Opening day of the ancient Greek games was a spectacle to behold, a celebration of the vigor and supercharged competitiveness that infused the spirit of one of antiquity's most transforming civilizations. People by the thousands from every...

Is the group responsible for the individual's crime? Collective sanctions have ancient roots, and are used more widely today than is often realized. But are they ethical? And do they work?(Ethics)
May 10, 2004... The Pakistani Army not long ago gave tribal elders near the Afghan border a choice: Either turn over 72 men wanted for sheltering Al Qaeda members, or soldiers would demolish houses in their town. Holding a group responsible for the actions of...

A year later, teens weigh in on Iraq: high-school students are taking a second took at the war, with many adopting more nuanced views about not only Iraq, but also America's rote in the world.(International)
May 10, 2004... A little more than a year ago, when schoolhouses across the nation echoed with debate about the imminent war, two freshmen at Normal Community High School in Illinois shared a moral certainty that it had been the duty of the United States to...

1974: a President resigns: thirty years ago this summer, in the aftermath of Watergate, Richard Nixon left office in disgrace.(Times Past)
May 10, 2004... Washington, a city built on a swamp and known for its steamy summers, usually empties out in August. But not in 1974, when Richard M. Nixon was desperately trying to hold on to the presidency in the wake of the political scandal known as...

It's not all in the envelope.(Perspectives)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... There are a lot of smart, lively young people in this country, and you will find them at whatever college or university you go to. If you put me in a room with 15 students from any of the top 100 schools in the U.S. and asked me at the end of...

The Supreme Court takes up God and the flag.(Perspectives)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... President Bush has written that the pledge is a way of "seeking the wisdom and guidance of divine providence." John Kerry said that the [lower court] ruling holding "under God" in the pledge unconstitutional was "the most absurd thing.......

Imagine our leaders really taking some chances.(Perspectives)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... I so hunger to wake up and be surprised with some really good news--by someone who totally steps out of himself or herself, imagines something different, and thrusts out a hand. I want to wake up and read that 10,000 Palestinian mothers marched...

Are zero-tolerance policies a good idea? Zero-tolerance policies generally mandate specific punishments for various types of misconduct in school. Do they make sense?(Debate)
May 10, 2004... YES Most students come to school ready to learn and behave appropriately. But for the minority of students whose behavior is dangerous, threatening, or chronically disruptive, schools must outline clear and consistent consequences. Certain...

Building a house and confronting poverty.(Voices)
May 10, 2004... The Mexican heat is absolutely sweltering--I feel as though I'm going to melt into the dirt I'm standing on. But we have to finish pouring concrete into the walls of the house before it hardens. After that, our group will rest and have...

Cartoons.(Cartoon)
May 10, 2004... ARE WE IN POST WAR PHASE NEW WAR PHASE OR PREHANDOVER POSTWAR PHASE? Gary Markstein * Milwaukee Journal Sentinel * Copley News Service [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MISSION ACCOMPLISHED DEMOCRACY AND UNITY IN IRAQ... Jack Ohman *...

Olympic medal mania.(Graph Exercise)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... Winning athletes in :he ancient Olympics were rewarded only with the traditional laurel wreaths, but also with money and fame. Many modern Olympic victors also have a shot at fame, like lucrative endorsements and pro contracts. But since...

Upfront quiz 1.
May 10, 2004... DIRECTIONS: Circle the letter next to the best answer. 1. Florida's Everglades National Park has become a the newest attraction for foreign visitors. b a breeding ground for dangerous diseases. c a dumping ground for exotic...

Upfront quiz 2.
May 10, 2004... DIRECTIONS: Circle the letter next to the best answer. 1. The debate over including the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance goes to the heart of the First Amendment, which a requires recognition of the Christian religion. ...

Upfront quiz 3.
May 10, 2004... 1. The article quotes a classical scholar who believes the Olympic Games began in the eighth century B.C. a as preparation for a looming war. b as part of a religious observance. c as Greeks emerged from a dark age of several...

Upfront quiz 4.
May 10, 2004... DIRECTIONS: Circle letter next to the best answer. 1. The first legal step in the removal of a sitting President is a interrogation of the President by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. b indictment by the U.S. Attorney General....

Upfront quiz show.
May 10, 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...