New York Times Upfront articles from September 2003

New York Times Upfront archives from September 2003

Now I'm a test-tube teenager.(Voices)
September 1, 2003... PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA -- One afternoon in late February, I happened to ask my dad about the poster in our hallway--an image of a test tube with babies swimming in it. His answer was not what I expected: "Honey, you're a test-tube baby." ...

How about a bar of soap for my monkey?(Photo)
September 1, 2003... GETTING WET: An Indian man and his monkey bathe in the Ganges river in Allahabad, India, on a 104-degree day earlier this summer. Hindus consider the Ganges sacred. Each year, crowds of pilgrims cleanse and purify themselves in its waters.

Teen gossip jumps to the Web.(Circuits)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Not long ago, teenage gossip was something that spread in the cafeteria or was scribbled on bathroom walls. Today, the Web is where many teens go to get the latest juice--and the rumors can be outright nasty. Students in Benicia, California,...

Do fish ache?(Sports)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Some British scientists have concluded that, despite longstanding claims to the contrary, fish do indeed feel pain when hooked. By injecting bee venom into the lips of rainbow trout, one scientist found the fish displayed "profound behavioral...

Violent games beneficial? Well ...(Society)(first-person shooter game players have better visual skils)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Some researchers think there's a link between violent video games and aggression. But a recent study scores one for the other side. It found that first-person shooter video games--the kind that require players to down enemies that pop out of...

Black in class.(Q&A)(interview with Jack Black)(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 1, 2003... Funny man Jack Black, who prays a rock star turned substitute teacher in this fall's School of Rock, had no trouble getting into character. Known for his rotes in Shallow Hal and Orange County, Black also is part of the rock group Tenacious D....

Brenton Butler didn't do it: but he did confess. And so do a surprising number of innocent people--teenagers in particular. Studies show that teens are especially vulnerable to making false confessions with terrible consequences.(National)
September 1, 2003... On May 7, 2000, Brenton Butler was walking to Blockbuster video store to fill out a job application when he was picked up by police as murder suspect. The slight 15-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida, had never been in trouble before, and he...

The parties face off: Bush supporters say young people will help turn the President's popularity into an era of Republican rule. But polls show the country is still closely divided.(National)
September 1, 2003... The two students couldn't be more different. Charles Mitchell, a junior at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, has draped the walls of his dorm room with a giant American flag decorated with red, white, and blue Christmas lights. A picture of...

Is American an empire? America is the world's only superpower. It dominates the globe militarily, economically, and culturally. It is a 21st-century empire? And how does the rest of the world feel about that?(International)
September 1, 2003... Well after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, in a mud-walled Iraqi town north of Baghdad, American troops in Apache helicopters and Bradley fighting vehicles fought for four days against Iraqi attackers hiding in a thicket of reeds. ...

Why I go extreme: for world class adventure athlete Will Gadd, real life begins up in the clouds.(Sports)
September 1, 2003... The man lecturing me, as he eyed my flying equipment, was in his mid-40s, with a monster-truck-tire gut and wearing corporate baseball cap. "People like you ought to be locked up before you kill yourselves," he said. "You're a 911 call waiting...

The muscle that built the rail: to complete the transcontinental railroad, two companies hired cheap immigrant labor and raced to lay the most track.(History)
September 1, 2003... On May 10, 1869, a telegraph operator at Promontory, Summit, in what was then Utah Territory, tapped out a single momentous word to the rest of the country: "Done." Two railroads--one under construction from the East, the other from the...

Should the high court restrict a suspect's right to remain silent? Soon it could be, "you have the right to remain silent--after the police question you." The Supreme Court will decide this year.(Opinion)
September 1, 2003... YES In 1966, the Supreme Court issued the Miranda decision, requiring police to tell criminal suspects of their right to remain silent and to consult a lawyer. While well-intentioned (it's designed to prevent police misconduct), the...

America's global reach costs big bucks.(Graph Exercise)
September 1, 2003... "Superpower" is the term countries around the world use to refer to the economic and military giant that is the United States. As the map on page 23 shows, U.S. military forces are on duty around the globe. Supporters and opponents of this...

Upfront quiz show.
September 1, 2003... 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 questions....

Lights out.(news & Trends)(blackout in Eastern United States)
September 22, 2003... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Lights Out: On August 14, the worst blackout in American history forced thousands of people to stream across New York's Brooklyn Bridge to get home from work without subways (which run on electricity). The...

Finding a roomie online.(Circuits)
September 22, 2003... It works for love connections, so why not for college roommate searches? Some colleges are experimenting with computer matchmaking for the age-old ritual of locating a dorm mate. At Emory University in Atlanta this summer, students, using made...

Numbers in the news.(news & trends)
September 22, 2003... 23 million Number of people who signed up in the first two weeks far a federal no-call registry, aimed at limiting telemarketing. [See story, page 12] SOURCE: FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 75% Proportion of high school students...

Model employees.(Business)(hiring practices of retailers that border on discrimination)
September 22, 2003... There's something about Elizabeth Nill. At no fewer than three Abercrombie & Fitch stores, she says, managers have offered her a job. "Every time this happens, my little sister says, 'Not again,'" says Nill, a college sophomore who is 5-foot-6...

Strange rumors fly in the Iraqi capital.(International)(rumors about equipment of US soldiers in Iraq)
September 22, 2003... As a U.S. soldier peered out of a passing tank, a young engineering student contemplated one of the more common questions on the streets of Baghdad: Did the soldier's wraparound sunglasses give him X-ray vision? "With those glasses, he can...

They really said it.(Soundbites)
September 22, 2003... "We're the world's greatest superpower, but we have a third world electricity grid." --Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico and former energy secretary, on a blackout that left millions in the U.S. without power. (The Associated Press,...

Courting young Mideast minds.(Media)(introduction of Hi magazine in the Middle East)
September 22, 2003... The U.S. is crossing its fingers that Hi magazine, which hit newsstands across the Middle East this summer, will be a hit with young Arabs, ages 18-45. Published in Arabic and sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, the monthly, for-profit...

Miss Teen USA: crown as microphone.(Q&A)(Tami Nichole Farrell)
September 22, 2003... Last year, Tami Nichole Farrcll was student-body president of her high school in Phoenix, Oregon, population 4,302. But on August 12, the 18 year-old aspiring actress was crowned Miss Teen USA. What made you want to participate? It's a...

Acting political.(Politics)(actor Arnold Schwarzenegger)
September 22, 2003... Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor of California? He's not the first Hollywood type to yearn for the political stage. Being famous helps, but does not assure success at the ballot box. [See story, page 8]

New pronouns for some old parchment.(Government)(changes to state constitutions make them gender neutral)
September 22, 2003... When many state constitutions were written, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the idea of a Mrs. or Ms. Governor was as preposterous as, say, space travel. Many of those musty old documents refer to governors, legislators, and state officials all...

Old soles generate new cash.(Society)(price paid for vintage Air Jordan tennis shoes)
September 22, 2003... Does $24,000 for a pair of 1984 Air Jordan sneakers seem outrageous? That's how much one Japanese sneaker seeker paid for the pair, dubbed the "holy grail" by collectors. Sneaker fanatics, or sneaker heads, as some like to be called, scour the...

Madness recall: a circus-like election to recall California's Governor is either democracy in action or--as some critics worry--the beginning of its descent into chaos.(National)
September 22, 2003... It's the greatest electoral show on Earth: Next month, more than 100 candidates, ranging from the serious to the ridiculous, will try to knock California Governor Gray Davis out of office barely a year into his second term. The contenders range...

Enough is enough: Americans get millions of unsolicited phone calls and junk e-mails. Congress is acting to limit them. But marketers say they have a free-speech right to make their pitches.(National)
September 22, 2003... In Washington, D.C., 18-year-old Harry Stein had his aha! moment on Internet spam--the unsolicited junk e-mail that clogs millions of in-boxes across America--when the family returned from a weeklong vacation. The Stein e-mail account was...

Liberation for Liberia? Liberia has suffered through 14 years of civil war. Now that troublemaker ex-President Charles Taylor is finally gone, could the nation at long last begin to heal its wounds?(International)
September 22, 2003... Liberians have always thought of the United States as a protective older brother, so the sight of American warships off the coast of Monrovia, the country's capital, inspired hope. Eager to catch a glimpse of the mighty ships, droves of people...

Whose side are they on? U.S. officials have accused Arab news network Al Jazeera of biased coverage. Are any media really objective in times of war?(Media)
September 22, 2003... As the U,S.-led war in Iraq erupted this spring, CNN chronicled the awesome power of the U.S. military, chatted about battle strategy with retired generals, and referred to American troops as fighting a war of "liberation." But on Arab...

How American slavery led to the birth of Liberia: in 1820, a private American group established Liberia as a colony for freed U.S. slaves. But it was troubled from the start.(History)
September 22, 2003... On January 25, 1851, Edward Blyden's ship dropped anchor just off the coast of Liberia, For the 19-year-old seminary student, it was the end of a weeks-long sea voyage and a kind of homecoming. To the very continent that Blyden's ancestors had...

Arrested far from battlefields, but held as enemy combatants: several terrorism suspects have been arrested in America but denied the protections of the U.S. justice system. Is that fair?(Debate)
September 22, 2003... DEBATE YES On Sept. 11, 2001 war was declared on the United States. As hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the U.S. entered a new phase of modern warfare. The resulting war on terrorism is unique because it...

Cartoons.(Arnold Schwarzenegger's gubernatorial campaign; other current events)
September 22, 2003... THE TOTAL RECALL (1990) OF GRAY DAVIS WILL HAVE HIM SEEING THE END OF DAYS (1999) FOR BEING LIKE CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982) AND GIVING CALIFORNIANS A RAW DEAL (1986). WE NEED TO TAKE AN ERASER (1996) TO HIS COLLATERAL DAMAGE (2002)! THAT'S WHY...

My home is my classroom.(Voices)(homeschooling)
September 22, 2003... MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE--Ever since I started grade school, I've been homeschooled. When people ask what school I attend, my response usually provokes a frown, as if there's something wrong with me. I feel that's because homeschooling has been made...

Computer consumers scream, "ban the spam!".(Graph Exercise)(unsolicited electronic mail)
September 22, 2003... Spam--not the canned meat, but the waves of unsolicited e-mail and pop-up ads that flood computer screens--is causing a kind of electronic indigestion among millions of Americans who rely on computers in their personal and business affairs....

Upfront quiz show.
September 22, 2003... 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 questions....