New York Times Upfront articles from September 2001

New York Times Upfront archives from September 2001

To stop the bullets. (Letters).(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 3, 2001... A chill went up my spine as I read "When Will It End?" (4/16/01), because I realized that I know kids who fit the profile of school shooters --and know them well. I am seriously thinking of buying a bulletproof vest. I hope your article will...

Online survey: fast food: does the good outweight the bad? (upfrontmagazine.com).(Brief Article)
September 3, 2001... Here's how you voted on the question posed in the May 14 edition of UPFRONT: YES 8,373 (60.3%) NO 5,504 (39.7%)

Alaska's oil: fair game? (Letters).(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 3, 2001... I don't think we should drill for oil in Alaska's wildlife preserves ("Is Alaska the Answer?" 4/30/01). The energy available there would not last long enough to make it worthwhile. VANESSA BRADSHAW Longwood, Fla. It seemed to me...

Comic relief. (Letters).(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 3, 2001... I am 17 and have been reading comic books for over a decade ("Rescuing the Heroes," 4/16/01). Thanks to articles like yours--and movies like X-Men--more people realize they're not just booklets with characters in tights who fight crime, but a...

Spelling our doom. (Letters).(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 3, 2001... The "freespell" concept makes me sick ("Nu Speling Be," News and Trends, 4/30/01). If typing one extra character to spell "new" is hard work, we are doomed. End of story. NICHOLAS JAMES WATSON III Austin, Minn.

Say it loud: I'm punk and I'm proud. (voices).(Brief Article)
September 3, 2001... WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND--I've always known that I was a little different. Last year, I started playing guitar in a pretty successful punk rock band named Wedgie. My life hasn't been the same since. It was what made me punk, and ever since then I...

Rat couture. (Photo).(controversy over the use of rats at a fashion show)(Brief Article)
September 3, 2001... Nothings says "wear these clothes" like swarming vermin. The edgy designer label Tsubi released about 200 rats onto the catwalk of a fashion show in Sydney, Australia. A clear barrier kept the rats away from spectators, but models picked up and...

Limpers need not apply. (International).(disability and education)
September 3, 2001... Yuan Xin's dream was to be a doctor. The teenager had one of the highest exam scores in his home province of Hunan, China. Yet officials at a prestigious medical school rejected him. He may have a brilliant mind, but he also has a slight...

A divine diva. (Religion).(Britney Spears, singer)(Brief Article)
September 3, 2001... Pop culture and Pope culture keep on harmonizing. Britney Spears--along with a string of celebrities including *Nsync, Faith Hill, and Steven Tyler--is lending her voice to a spoken-word CD, reading prayers written by Pope John Paul II. It's...

Get your freak off. (Schools).(dance)(Brief Article)
September 3, 2001... Whatever you call it--freak dancing, grinding, rub-a-dub, booty dancing, the nasty--more and more students are blowing off the motto "dance face-to-face and leave some space." New sexually charged moves, often blamed on MTV, are spreading...

A bully by the horns. (National).(strong arm in schools)(Brief Article)
September 3, 2001... Everyone is ganging up on bullies. The National Institutes of Health reported in the first-ever large-scale national study that about one-quarter of all students in grades 6 through 10 had bullied someone else, had been bullied themselves, or...

Death and IQ. (Law).(capital punishment and ethics)(Brief Article)
September 3, 2001... Should mentally retarded prisoners be subject to the death penalty? The U.S. Supreme Court is trying to figure that out as one aspect of the larger debate over executions (see Opinion, page 34). Earlier this year, the Court overturned the...

The crossing: as the U.S. cracks down on the main illegal entry points, more migrants are taking their chances in the desert. A reporter makes the trek with one group.(Cover Story)
September 3, 2001... It is our second night in the Arizona desert. We're hungry and tired. Our throats ache and burn with dust. But we keep on, tramping through the cactus and nettles toward an unseen highway where our guide says a ride will be waiting. The men I'm...

The changing face of America: the biggest immigratign boom in a century is transforming the way the nation looks, feels, and sounds. (Cover Story).
September 3, 2001... When Anya Kopylev was growing up in Russia, everybody in her school looked and sounded just like her. "If I saw a black person, it was a whole occasion," she says. But since she arrived in New York City in 1995, everything has changed. Her...

The lost boys: these young African refugees survived lions, crocodiles, and starvation. Now they're starting life over in America.(life of Sudanese refugees in the US)(Cover Story)
September 3, 2001... One evening in late January, Peter Dut, 21, leads his two teenage brothers through the brightly lit corridors of the Minneapolis airport, trying to mask his confusion. Two days earlier, the brothers, refugees from Africa, had encountered, their...

The new refugees: for millions of refugees around the world, home is a ragged tent and hunger is the norm. Does anyone care?
September 3, 2001... It's one of the toughest places to live on earth: the Jalozai refugee camp on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, where 80,000 Afghan refugees are crammed into the bursting seam of a dry riverbed. They sleep beneath flimsy sheets of plastic,...

Rise of the superathlete: altered genes could lead to gigantic football players, towering basketball centers, and huge risks. (sports).
September 3, 2001... Shaquille O'Neal could someday be the puniest player on the court. The dawning era of genetic engineering is scaring the sports world, leading to visions of 9-foot-tall basketball centers, turbo-charged sprinters, double-size football linemen,...

News blasters: TV's late-night comedians find the quickest way to your brain is through your funny bone. (arts).(Brief Article)
September 3, 2001... The drone of Tom Brokaw can't measure up to the bite of Jon Stewart. The real George W. Bush is playing second banana to a fake George W. Bush. It's a world gone a little mad, as hard news is giving way to humorous news. Comedy Central's...

Destination: America: a century ago, thousands of foreigners arrived daily in New York Harbor. As with today's immigration boom, reaction was mixed. (times past).(Statistical Data Included)
September 3, 2001... Liberty was someone you could talk to. "Lady, you're beautiful," thought a 15-year-old girl from Greece as she glimpsed the giant statue in the harbor. "Give me a chance to prove that I am worth it, to do something, to become somebody in...

Surprise on the inside: college guides don't tell the whole story. These freshmen share their on-campus revelations, both good and bad. Take heed! (education)(Cover Story).(student advice on post secondary school selection)
September 3, 2001... You consider a list of colleges. You check it twice. You go to the one that you think is best for you. Yet you could still be in for a shock your freshman year. Four students talk about their surprises--and their tips for you. TEACHING...

Do executions bring justice? The relatives of murder victims disagree on the death penalty. (opinion)(Cover Story).(dialogue; Renny Cushing, Susan Winchester)(Brief Article)(Column)(Cover Story)
September 3, 2001... NO On June 1, 1988, my father, Robert Cushing, a retired schoolteacher, opened his front door and was greeted by a shotgun blast that ripped his chest apart. His murder left our family numb and devastated. We will feel the loss for the rest of...

Drawing on the news.(Brief Article)
September 3, 2001... ONE SMALL PROBLEM WITH THE DEATH PENALTY... "As for immigration, I say admitanyone who arrives on the Concorde." "And yet another headache for the Immigration and Naturalization Service!" "Some genetic engineers we truned out to...

Graph exercise: immigrant numbers soar, but share of population remains modest.(Brief Article)
September 3, 2001... * Through history, millions of people from around the world have come to the United States in search of economic opportunity and religious and political freedom. Although immigrants helped develop the country--working in factories, building...

Quiz 1.(Brief Article)
September 3, 2001... Use with NATIONAL, pages 8-17 SHORT ANSWER/FILL IN THE BLANK: WRITE THE CORRECT ANSWER ON THE LINE PROVIDED 1. About how many people each year move to the U.S. illegally or stay beyond the limits of their visas? -- 2. The Governor...

Quiz 2.(Brief Article)
September 3, 2001... Use with INTERNATIONAL, pages 18-23. FILL IN THE BLANK AND SHORT ANSWER: Write the correct answer on the line provided. 1. Why are the "lost boys" alone? What happened to their families? -- 2. During their long journey to the...

Quiz 3.(Brief Article)
September 3, 2001... Use with HISTORY, pages 28-30. FILL IN THE: BLANK AND SHORT ANSWER: Write the correct answer on the line provided. 1. In 1855, state governments began examining immigrants to bar "undesirables" such as criminals and those who were...

Letters.(Brief Article)
September 17, 2001... Don't Read This at Lunch It's very hard in a restaurant for everyone to comply with the rules, which is unfortunate ("American Fry," 5/14/01). But people tend to overlook food poisoning--unless they've experienced this God-awful feeling....

Facing the Test of Cancer--and Passing.(health)(Brief Article)
September 17, 2001... VAN, TEXAS--As I sit in the doctor's office, I look at my gray gym shirt. It has my number, 14, on it. Then I look at my dad. He's so solemn. I know he would like to be anywhere but here. I feel the same way. I thought it was just...

A Bloodthirsty Struggle.(Indonesia)(Brief Article)
September 17, 2001... A soldier in Indonesia drinks snake blood during a training session for shock troops near the country's capital, Jakarta. The army deploys this elite unit, known as Kostrad, to regions torn by independence movements. Widespread clashes threaten...

Fight for Your Right to Lobby.(Alanis Morissette, singer)(Brief Article)
September 17, 2001... President George W. Bush apparently doesn't listen to Alanis Morissette--or the Beastie Boys or Moby or the Dave Matthews Band. The artists are among the music all-stars who form the New Power Project. Their objective: Persuade Bush and...

Smoke `n' Save!(Czech Republic )(Brief Article)
September 17, 2001... Everyone knows smoking can kill you. But that can be a real plus for a penny-pinching government. Cigarette-maker Philip Morris paid for a study that found smokers in the Czech Republic brought "indirect positive effects" to the government...

Jewelry Goes Dental.(Brief Article)
September 17, 2001... Turning "metal mouth" from a put-down to a compliment, non-rap stars are accessorizing their pearly whites with shiny gold. Teeth caps, or fronts, have been around for years with performers like the Wu-Tang Clan and Master P, but now they're a...

Back to Busing?(U.S. schools still largely segregated owing to poverty)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 17, 2001... Most white students aren't ready for the real world, and nonwhites are even worse off. That's because schools have grown increasingly segregated since 1992, according to a Harvard study. "White children are growing up in a society that is...

AskMarcus.com.(Marcus Arnold, teen who gives legal advice online)(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 17, 2001... He isn't a lawyer, but Marcus Arnold plays one online. Learning from TV, the 16-year-old from Perris, California, beat out real lawyers to become a top-rated legal expert on AskMe.com before anyone knew he was a teen. Do you think of...

INSIDE THE WEST WING.(how TV program compares to reality)
September 17, 2001... AGAINST A BACKDROP OF HORSE-TRADING AND HARDBALL, A POPULAR TV SHOW OFFERS A LOOK AT HOW GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS REALLY WORK. EVERYTHING SAYS POWER. THE CAMERAS STAND READY. TOP-LEVEL AIDES scurry to and fro with the latest version of the...

SHATTERED HOPE.(middle east affairs)
September 17, 2001... ONE SIDE SENDS SUICIDE BOMBERS; THE OTHER ANSWERS WITH HELICOPTER ATTACKS. ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS ARE LOCKED AGAIN IN MORTAL COMBAT. YET JUST LAST YEAR THEY WERE CLOSER TO PEACE THAN AT ANY TIME IN DECADES. HOW DID THEY MISS THEIR CHANCE?...

I.M. Can't Keep It Real.(chatty e-mail)
September 17, 2001... In the instant-messaging boom, big business wants to use chatty new robots to be your buddy Many instant-messaging fans around the world have been adding an especially peculiar new name to their buddy lists: GooglyMinotaur. This...

Dating Games.(reality dating shows mocked)(Brief Article)
September 17, 2001... Reality TV tries to play matchmaker, but in the quest for ratings, where's the love? This fall, it seems almost every American's dates (except yours) will be televised. TV producers are eagerly unleashing a new wave of romance reality...

The Presidency Powers Up.
September 17, 2001... The nation's top job isn't defined by the Constitution alone. It has been shaped by 212 years of experience --and five key events. The Founding Fathers were a far-sighted bunch, but they didn't see Air Force One coming. When leaders...

Partners: God and Uncle Sam?(federal financing for church-based charities)
September 17, 2001... Should religious groups get federal dollars to help them serve the poor? YES Faith-based charities can address America's social ills in a way that government simply cannot. They are working in every neighborhood in America to fight...

Drawing on the News.
September 17, 2001... THERE THAT MAKES A NICE ADDITION DON'T YA THINK? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO SEE YOU, SIR... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] YOU FIRST... OH, NO, I INSIST... AFTER YOU... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Once again, Upfront is full of news articles designed to meet your classroom needs and help teens make sense of the world around them.(new editor of magazine)(Editorial)
September 17, 2001... Dear Teacher, Once again, Upfront is full of news articles designed to meet your classroom needs and help teens make sense of the world around them. But it comes to you under new management. Herbert Buchsbaum, the first editor of...

GRAPH EXERCISE.(Muslims in Israel)
September 17, 2001... Israel's Muslim Minority Continues to Grow From Israel's founding in 1948 until today, Muslims have accounted for a sizable minority of the country's population. But in recent years experts have noted that the Muslim share has been...