Newsweek articles from September 2003

Newsweek archives from September 2003

Conventional Wisdom: BLOODY SUMMER EDITION.(current events humor)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Dedicated U.N. officials killed in Baghdad, more innocent blood shed in the Middle East. Will we ever see the end of this? Bush - Iraq, Mideast blowing up on him. Now he needs friends in the rest of the world. But they can't...

Another Side of the August Ms. Morrison.(Toni Morrison)(Interview)
September 1, 2003... Byline: David Gates Knowing Toni Morrison only from her magisterial public demeanor, and then entering this Pantheon-domed apartment palace in Manhattan, you expect Jeeves to open the door and administer some pre-intimidation before...

Mail Call and Corrections: Arnold's Bid for the Governor's Mansion.(Letter to the Editor)(Correction Notice)
September 1, 2003... Readers' responses to our Aug. 18 cover story about Arnold Schwarzenegger were as varied as the candidates running for governor of California. Some readers were skeptical of Schwarzenegger's qualifications. One called him "an overrated actor...

No End In Sight.
September 1, 2003... With a strike on the U.N. complex in Baghdad, terrorists carry out the largest attack on the United Nations in the organization's history - and raise painful questions about the future of U.S.-occupied Iraq. A Special Report. "The blue...

Restoration at 346 Madison: In 1956 Brooks Brothers' president said, 'Whenever we conteplate changing anything around here, a perceptible shudder goes through the store'.
September 1, 2003... Byline: George F. Will This man now--surely he came from that heavenly world, that divine position at the center of things where choice is unlimited. --MARY McCARTHY, "The Man in the Brooks Brothers Shirt" (1941) Some business...

What We Should Do Now: Washington's Plan A clearly isn't working. The fighting is far from over in Iraq. But there's no walking away. The administration needs to have a clear, long-term commitment, the backing of the United Nations and more than a little help from its friends.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Fareed Zakaria There is a danger of over-reacting to last week's gruesome bombing of the United Nations' headquarters in Baghdad. The United States has been in Iraq for only four months and much of the country is stable. The...

The New College Game: Telltale essays, long wait lists, 'mutual massage'--this is the newest lexicon of the process. Colleges manipulate admissions. Now students are learning to fight back.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Jay Mathews In the college-admission season just past, Ben Weinberg was one of the hot prospects--1430 SAT, A-minus average at a very competitive private school, jazz pianist, tennis player and future biomedical researcher. Those...

The Hot Schools of 2004: Competition is tough, but there are hundreds of great colleges out there. Here's a dandy dozen we think you should consider.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Mary Carmichael and Karen Springen Every year, high-school seniors undergo two rituals. One is picking a college. The second is ranking their classmates for the yearbook: Most Outgoing, Most Athletic, Best All-Around. Choosing an...

Stop! Do Not Turn the Page! There's death, there's taxes and there's standardized tests. Colleges say they need the SAT and ACT to weigh applicants fairly. How should students prepare?
September 1, 2003... Byline: Linda Stern What should you do with that No. 2 pencil: (a) keep it sharpened; (b) use it to take several life-altering tests during a harrowing year of your young life; (c) chew it to bits while waiting to see if your scores help...

Tuition: Why It Costs So Much: Tough times hurt funding, but schools keep spending.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Arian Campo-Flores In July 2002, just one month before she was to start her sophomore year at Penn State, Midori Valdivia received a shocking piece of mail: the bursar's bill. Her tuition had increased 14 percent, to $4,004 per...

The Editor's Desk.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Jon Meacham Late last Tuesday afternoon, Joshua Hammer had just returned to our bureau in Baghdad from a visit to a power plant--he had been reporting on Iraq's electrical problems--when the telephone rang. "I think a bomb just...

Another Party Gets Started With Pink.(Biography)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Lorraine Ali Pink examines her face in the rearview mirror and tries to wipe off a layer or two of the makeup from a recent photo shoot. "God, I look like a drag queen," she says in a sandpaper voice that makes her sound like a...

Fast Forward: A SNEAK PEAK AHEAD: There's no way to do justice to the bounty of fall and winter--without saying virtually nothing about virtually everything. So we dug in deep on the four people and projects that intrigue us most.("Cold Mountain")
September 1, 2003... Byline: Jeff Giles The other day, Nicole Kidman went to the movies, and the coming attractions freaked her out a little. The trailer for Julia Roberts's December film, "Mona Lisa Smile," among others. It just looked so... good. Like...

We're Fighting Terror, But Killing Freedom: Are the rights of my Arab and Muslim clients really expendable? Only if we're ready to give up our own.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Randall Hamud In the last 23 months I've received countless threats accusing me of being a terrorist, but this one caught my attention because it was in Spanish. "Te vas a morir!" the voice on my answering machine said. "You're...

Groping in the Dark: The public posture is confident, but the jitters are real. Under fire in Iraq, Team Bush ponders its options.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Evan Thomas Iraq may be spinning out of control, but in the Bush administration, the spin was strictly controlled. From Baghdad to the White House, administration spokesmen went to elaborate lengths to argue that the presence of...

Tangled Up in His Flight Suit: For Bush, war equals good politics--so long as the war's going well, that is.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Howard Fineman George W. Bush was raising money last week in the Pacific Northwest, where there are too many greens, Democrats and anti-everything activists to suit him. "Do you have all those protesters lined up to see me?" he...

After the U. N.'s Own 9/11 Crisis: A friend remembers Vieira de Mello--and offers a plan for the U.N.'s future in Iraq.(Sergio Vieira de Mello)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Richard C. Holbrooke The flags of the nations were gone from their familiar flagpoles in front of United Nations headquarters last week. Only a single banner--the pale blue of the United Nations--flew on First Avenue, at half-mast,...

Newsmakers.("Deep Throat"; Ellen Degeneres)(Interview)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Sean Smith and Jennifer Ordonez Now, That's What We Call Oral History If you're older than 50, you probably remember when you saw "Deep Throat." The 1972 film is not only the most famous porn flick to date, but the most...

Perspectives.(quotations on current events)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Quotation sources from top to bottom: New York Times, Playboy, Associated Press (2), Salt Lake Tribune, New York Times, AP, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, AP (2), Minneapolis Star-Tribune "The end of the Roadmap is a cliff." Secretary of...

Nukes and Crime: China's Borderline Troubles.(China-North Korea relations)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Cortlan Bennett and Melinda Liu China's patience with North Korea is wearing thin. The trouble isn't only Pyongyang's crash program to create a nuclear arsenal--although that's caused plenty of sleepless nights in Beijing. Thanks...

Murdered Behind Bars.(ex-priest John Geoghan)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Daniel McGinn Prison is always a tough place, but it's especially dangerous for notorious convicts. Last Saturday pedophile ex-priest John Geoghan was strangled by another inmate inside a maximum-security Massachusetts prison....

Blackout: A 'Perfect Storm'.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Mark Hosenball Several power companies affected by the Aug. 14 blackout acknowledge minor failures with generators or transmission lines in the hours before lights went out. But no company concedes that its own problems were...

Viruses: Sobig, So Fast.(SoBig computer virus)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Brad Stone The Internet came down with a bad case of worms last week. First in line were MSBlast and Welchia, programs that exploit flaws in Microsoft's operating systems and roil corporate networks with excess e-mail traffic. But...

Health: Chemical Wowie.(discovery of anti-aging chemical called resveratrol)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Mary Carmichael In print, David Sinclair comes off as a mild-mannered Harvard pathologist given to discussions of "small molecules" and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. On the phone, though, he's a bit more... effusive. "We're making...

Education: Homeland Security U.(Curry College offers program in homeland defense)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Barney Gimbel The final exam is all too relevant to the outside world: protect a shopping mall, football stadium or convention center from terrorists. What are its vulnerabilities? Can a car drive up to the front door unnoticed?...

Grooming: Uno, Due, Tre... Quattro?(Schick Quattro tested against Gillette Mach 3 Turbo razor)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Daniel McGinn Few men hop out of bed each morning and say: "Oh, goody, I get to shave today!" But this month brings a rare bit of excitement to male grooming: the new Schick Quattro, the first-ever four-blade razor. The Quattro...

Music: The Secret Sharers.(file sharers block IP addresses of Recording Industry Association of America computers)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... CORRECTION PUBLISHED 9/10/03: In a Sept. 1 Periscope item ("The Secret Sharers") we incorrectly identified Kazaa Lite K++ as an upgrade of the file-sharing program Kazaa. It is actually a copycat. NEWSWEEK regrets the error....

Books: What a Mob Scene.(Chuck Palahniuk)(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Andrew Phillips It may not be possible to buy friends, but Chuck Palahniuk has had some luck with fans. The "Fight Club" author has a history of sending trinkets to his readers, who return the favor with their devotion. This...

Pets: Filing for Fido.(pet-related lawsuits)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Barney Gimbel When an angry neighbor fired multiple shots at Robert and Jodee Smith's dogs almost two years ago after they wandered into his backyard, the Smiths thought someone should pay. Jocelyn and Ford, their two Great Danes,...

Does Indexing Still Work? The question raised by the bear is whether to buy and always hold. In any frenzy it's smart to sell and put some profits in your purse.(index mutual funds)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Jane Bryant Quinn The results are in. Index mutual funds behave no better, but no worse, than any other mutual fund when the market falls. Money managers like to say that index investing fails when stocks decline. Supposedly you go...

Roy Moore's Holy War: The 'Ten Commandments judge' always loves a fight.(Biography)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Arian Campo-Flores Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court remains defiant even in defeat. For the past year he's fought a lawsuit seeking the removal of a two-ton Ten Commandments monument that he sneaked into the...

In California, All Politics Are National.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Karen Breslau Who needs New Hampshire? With Arnold Schwarzenegger getting more attention than any presidential candidate, the battle for the California governorship is starting to play out like a preview of next year's presidential...

Back-To-School Guide: It's official. Recess is over. Time to trade in your beach balls for book bags. Hey, no crying!(college gear)(Buyers Guide)
September 1, 2003... Summer may be ending, but at least it's an excuse to shop. Tip Sheet combed the hallways and mallways for this year's best gear--from high-tech laptops to high-design notebooks. Whether you're a first grader or a college freshman, here's all...

Leave Home Without It.(college dormitory gear)(Brief Article)(Buyers Guide)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Kate Stroup Think you know what dorm living is like? Sorry, pal. You have no idea. Go upstairs and lock yourself in a closet. Now you've got the idea. As small as you think your dorm room will be, it's guaranteed to be even...

High School: These are your glory days? Forget peer pressure and prom dates. Enjoy the gear:.(Brief Article)(Buyers Guide)
September 1, 2003... 1. GIII NBA Jersey Dress At last, a trendy look that's both sporty and sleek. Go for retro logos, like this Philadelphia 76ers dress. $75.99, nba.com 2. Speaking Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition Brush up on your SAT...

Driver's Ed: Try This At Home.(teaching a teenager to drive)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Melissa Brewster Most teenagers can't wait to get behind the wheel. But for parents, handing over the keys--and becoming just another powerless passenger--is always downright terrifying. A parent's guide to navigating those first...

Grade School: School can be scary, even for precocious tykes. Some 'toys' to ease the transition:.(Brief Article)(Buyers Guide)
September 1, 2003... 1. Carabiner Calculator Royal More chic than geek, this calculator snaps onto a bag strap or belt with its mountain-climber-inspired carabiner clip. Go figure! $4.99, royal.com 2. Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten By Joseph...

Your Baby Got Mac?(early exposure to computers)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Byline: N'Gai Croal How soon is too soon to start kids on a computer? If your baby is less than a year old, the answer is simple. He's way too young. A baby's vision hasn't developed sufficiently to focus on the screen. His attention span...

Of the Mr. Clean Named Mr. Sheen.(Charlie Sheen)(Interview)
September 1, 2003... Byline: Sean Smith He's afraid it's still in there. Yesterday, a bug crash-landed in Charlie Sheen's ear, and after trying to dig it out, then flush it out, he's pretty sure it's dead, but he's not sure it's, you know, gone. So now he's...

Countdown to Mayhem; The members of the U.N. staff in Baghdad knew they were risking their lives, but they believed they were doing the right thing. That gave them no protection. The story of the attack through their eyes.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Joshua Hammer with Colin Soloway in Baghdad United Nations headquarters in Baghdad was bustling as usual late last Tuesday afternoon. Upstairs in his spacious third-floor office, Special Envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello leaned forward...

The Object of The Outrage.(Kathy Boudin)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Anna Quindlen In the ways that seem to matter to her, the world is remarkably unchanged since Kathy Boudin essentially left it in 1970. There is still a chasm between rich and poor, white and black. Environmental concerns have a...

Love, Death, Light: Photographer Sally Mann reveals an eerie beauty in decomposing corpses, a Civil War battlefield--and her own children.
September 8, 2003... Byline: Malcolm Jones "Everything I do is arduous," Sally Mann says as she coats a glass plate with collodion and ether, just the way photographers did it 150 years ago. "Why do I do that? I don't know. Not because I'm better than anyone...

The Brainteaser Of Deficit Math: By the time you're finished adjusting for reality, the projected budget deficit is about $7.4 trillion, not the advertised $1.4 trillion.
September 8, 2003... Byline: Allan Sloan Ok, fans. Summer's over, it's back to school or work for almost all of us, alas. And what better way to tune up our post-vacation brains than to deal with some numbers? Big, important, scary ones. So, to get those...

Defying All Labels: It's a familiar tune in the music biz: falling sales, angry artists and Internet piracy. But Wind-up Records is winning by giving artists and fans what they want: more control over the music.(Company Profile)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Johnnie L. Roberts Amid the usual skinfest of top female stars at the MTV Video Music Awards last week, one artist stood out. Amy Lee, lead singer for Evanescence, the year's hottest debut rock act, strolled the red carpet in a...

Mail Call: Coming Together the Day the Lights Went Out.
September 8, 2003... Readers weighed in on our coverage of the "Blackout of 2003," lauding New Yorkers for their deft handling of the crisis. "It was moving to read about [New Yorkers'] resourcefulness, patience and sense of shared adversity," a woman from Michigan...

Rumors of Bin Laden's Lair: Some believe life on the run has made it impossible for Osama bin Laden to control and lead Al Qaeda. In Afghanistan's Kunar province, people tell a different story.
September 8, 2003... Byline: Sami Yousafzai And Ron Moreau Gray-bearded and almost toothless, Khan Kaka lives in a mud house with a weather-beaten pine door beside a little plot of corn and vegetables. But to his neighbors in this corner of Afghanistan's...

Arafat Rebounds (Again): Far from being sidelined, the Palestinian leader is tightening his grip on power.(Yasir Arafat)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Joshua Hammer The meeting at Yasir Arafat's office in Ramallah on Saturday, Aug. 23, was tense. For months Arafat and his rival, Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, had quarreled bitterly over who would control the Palestinian...

'Digging Their Hole Deeper': North Korea threatens a nuke test. Or was it just trying to make nice?
September 8, 2003... Byline: Melinda Liu And Richard Wolffe "Thank God for North Korea!" Hard-liners in the Bush administration said it over and over last week, with a sense of vindication--and heavy irony. The nuclear-crisis talks in Beijing had ended, and...

'The Danger is Very Close': A huge blast at one of Islam's holiest shrines further endangers America's plans to rebuild Iraq.(Najaf, Iraq)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Babak Dehghanpisheh and Christopher Dickey "Be careful and alert," warned the Ayatollah, "because the danger is very close to us." Above him rose the golden dome of the Imam Ali Mosque in the Iraqi city of Najaf, one of the holiest...

Still Time to Avoid Failure.(Iraq)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Fareed Zakaria Last Friday's bomb blast in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, presumably by Baathist terrorists, might mark the beginning of internal violence among various groups in Iraqi society. If so, we may be in for a hellish...

The Editor's Desk.
September 8, 2003... Byline: Mark Whitaker At NEWSWEEK, we've long been fascinated by how children's minds develop. Thirteen years ago, we did a cover story on the mental and physical differences between boys and girls ("Guns and Dolls," May 28, 1990). Six...

How to Out-Fox the Big Boys: Indie studio Searchlight became the new Miramax this summer.(Fox Searchlight)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Sean Smith Normally, you would never have heard of the movie "Thirteen," an unflinching look at adolescence starring two unknown teenage girls. Such films usually play at that theater near campus for a week. But "Thirteen" opened...

Shadowlands Of Slavery: A new novel blurs the line between bond and free.(The Known World)(Book Review)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Susannah Meadows In one heartbreaking scene from Edward P. Jones's "The Known World," a slave named Elias presents his beloved with a wooden comb he's carved. "Aside from the food in her stomach," we're told, "the comb was all she...

My Turn: Finally Tough Enough To Give Up Snuff: My mouth was sore, my teeth were brown. So why did I feel like I was saying goodbye to an old friend?
September 8, 2003... Byline: John Hare The brown stains on my teeth and the black and blue discoloration of my gums were signs that my affair with chewing tobacco had turned ugly. All that was left in the wake of our frequent rendezvous were empty snuff cans...

The General on the Edge: Democrats wary of Dean are still searching for a savior. Is Wes Clark their man?(Howard Dean)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Howard Fineman Wesley Clark always wants to be the leader, always wants to prove that he is as brave as he is brainy. In the summer of '59, at the age of 14, that meant jumping buck naked off the top of an old railroad bridge into...

An Abortion Foe's End: Paul Hill is slated to die for the killing of an abortion doctor. Why his death worries advocates on both sides of the divide.
September 8, 2003... Byline: Arian Campo-Flores On the day in 1994 that he says God commanded him to kill an abortion doctor, Paul Hill rose at 4 a.m. and prayed fervently as he clutched his Bible. He drove to a women's clinic in Pensacola, Fla., where he...

The Latin Hustle: In California, candidates woo a crucial voting bloc.(gubernatorial candidates)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Jennifer Ordonez and Karen Breslau Nick Hernandez had to be dragged by a friend to see Arnold Schwarzenegger stump in Fresno last Thursday. The 25-year-old student is a Republican, but he admires Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a Fresno...

Targeting Transgenders: A rash of killings has Washington, D.C.'s 'trans'community on edge. A fragile group under siege.
September 8, 2003... Byline: Holly Bailey Bella Evangelista may have been born a man, but to her friends she was always a lady. Born Elvys Augusto Perez in Guatemala, the 25-year-old immigrant to Washington, D.C., had lived and dressed as a woman for more than...

Did Arnold Like to Party? Mais Oui!(Arnold Schwarzenegger's Oui interview)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Karen Breslau Arnold Schwarzenegger hit the talk-radio circuit last week, hoping to polish his conservative credentials in the cradle of the California recall movement. But instead of just wowing them with fiscal tough talk,...

Newsmakers.(Pete Sampras; John Cleese)(Interview)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Susannah Meadows, Andrew Phillips Game, Set, Career Pete Sampras broke into tears when he walked onto the court at Flushing Meadows last week--not in his tennis whites but in natty street clothes--for his retirement ceremony....

Perspectives.(quotations on current events)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Quotation sources from top to bottom: New York Times, Oui, Reuters, Grand Haven Tribune (Mich.), New York Post, Associated Press (2), Denver Post, Associated Press, Pioneer Press (Minn.), Los Angeles Times "Stand tight." A Port...

Exclusive: 'We Were Not Told to Lie' About 9/11 and Health.(Environmental Protection Agency head Christine Todd Whitman )
September 8, 2003... Byline: Eleanor Clift and Julie Scelfo After stepping down this summer as the head of the EPA, the embattled Christine Todd Whitman is once again in the hot seat. This time it's over her role in the downplaying of health hazards for New...

Blair: Spun Out of Office.(resignation of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's communication director Alastair Campbell)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Mark Hosenball and Stryker McGuire A public inquiry into allegations that Prime Minister Tony Blair's government "sexed up" British intelligence on Iraq is taking its toll. Last week Alastair Campbell, Blair's communications...

Gay Marriage: DOMA Decision.("defense of marriage" acts)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Debra Rosenberg When it comes to the battle over gay marriage, all eyes are on Massachusetts, where the state's highest court is expected to rule soon on whether same-sex couples can marry. Thirty-seven states and the federal...

Roy Moore: A Monumental Ploy for Power?(Ten Commandments monument case)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Eleanor Clift and Frederick Burger It started with a rosewood tablet he carved himself and kept in his courtroom in Gadsden, Ala. That was 11 years ago, and the following he gained as the "Ten Commandments judge" enabled Roy Moore...

Health Care: Helping Doctors.(National Medical Association to help white doctors deal with black patients)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Peter Bailey African-Americans make up only 3.2 percent of the physician pool. And while the National Medical Association, the country's largest black doctors group, would like to see that percentage climb in the future, it's...

Cars: Zipping Along.(Zipcar and Flexcar rent cars by hour)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Martha Brant Ed and Penny Cherubino have a love-hate relationship with cars. He loves them; she hates them. But even he had become fed up with their '87 Saab, which was costing $5,000 a year to hang on to--even though they...

Wisconsin: Drink Up, Son!(move to change underage drinking law in Wisconsin)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Dirk Johnson At Wisconsin bars, anyone under 21 can legally buy and drink alcohol as long as there is a parent or guardian on the premises. State Rep. John Ainsworth doesn't think that's a good idea: "It's ridiculous that a child...

Teens: Thou Shalt Read This.(Revolve annotated New Testament Bible for girls)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Geoffrey Gagnon In the beginning, there was Gutenberg. Now there's Revolve, a $14.99 annotated New Testament Bible for girls, made to look and read like a teen magazine. On 400 color glossy pages, Revolve jazzes up the old text by...

Surveys: Iffy Politics, Great Hair.(survey of Californians)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Elise Soukup The governor may be on his way out, the budget's a mess and the Terminator's looking to run the state. California's had one heck of a summer. A survey of the damage: 74% of Californians say the state's heading in the...

Books: High (Priced) Art That Will Stand on Its Own.("Modern Art: Revolution and Painting" to cost $6,000)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Jennifer Barrett Looking for a coffee-table book that will really give your houseguests something to talk about? For $6,000, you can wow them with "Modern Art: Revolution and Painting," the most expensive new book ever sold in the...

Fixing Fannie And Freddie.(Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Robert J. Samuelson Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two giant mortgage companies, ain't broke--but they ought to be fixed. They have grown so large that if they ever experience serious financial problems, they would almost...

Girls, Boys and Autism: Is this mysterious and sometimes devastating condition just an extreme version of normal male intelligence? That's one provocative new theory. Behind autism's gender gap.
September 8, 2003... Byline: Geoffrey Cowley Andrew Bacalao has a good, sharp mind. At 13, he's a decent pianist, a devotee of Frank Lloyd Wright, a master at video-games and jigsaw puzzles. He remembers phone numbers like a Pocket PC, and he can dismantle a...

'Allowed To Be Odd': The hero of a best-selling new novel is a 15-year-old boy with autism--but that label never appears in the book.(The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time)(Book Review)
September 8, 2003... Byline: David Noonan Christopher John Francis Boone, the 15-year-old narrator of the new novel "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," knows lots of stuff, including the capitals of all the countries in the world and every...

Preying on the Predator: In prison, John Geoghan, once the abuser, became the victim. This sordid crime story has no moral--but it may result in real reform.
September 8, 2003... Byline: Daniel Mcginn During his 36 years as a Roman Catholic priest, serial pedophile John Geoghan preyed upon the most vulnerable members of his flock: poor boys from broken homes. But during the last moments of his life in a...

A Rags-to-Riches Story: Tracy Reese expects to take Fashion Week by storm.(Interview)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Allison Samuels Tracy Reese knows how cut-throat couture can get. Fresh from Parsons School of Design, Reese expected to storm the runways. "I was only 23 years old, and I thought I knew everything," she says."It didn't take long...

Travel: Good Times In The Skies.(airlines woo back customers)(Industry Overview)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Kevin Peraino Cancellations, sour flight attendants, legroom fit for a 10-year-old: you've heard it all a million times. Airlines are the companies consumers love to hate. Travelers who lean toward schadenfreude probably have had a...

Perfect Weekend: The Grand Canyon.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Tara Weingarten It may be just a big hole in the ground, but it's the most awesome one on the planet. Infinite layers of pastel rock make the Grand Canyon an exquisite destination, especially during the cooler days of fall. See the...

Must-See: Broadway.(fall season plays)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Kate Stroup "They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway..." Yeah. We know. But this season's stars are even brighter. Little Shop of Horrors Virginia Theatre opens 0ct. 2 Tickets: $55 to $95 The buzz: Hard to...

Road Test - Infiniti Fx45: Paging Dr. Freud.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Keith Naughton Sometimes a wheel is just a wheel. As I drove around in the Infiniti FX45, with its long nose and huge 20-inch wheels, reaction divided evenly along gender lines. Guys loved the racy SUV and were awed by those...

Ask Tip Sheet: How can I be certain that a Web site that claims to be secure is actually secure? --Jeanne Pierce, Western Springs, Ill.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: N'Gai Croal When shopping online, look for the icon of a closed lock or an unbroken key at the bottom of your browser window. This indicates that the Web site is handling transactions securely. However, a rep for MasterCard...

Uncorked - Beaujolais.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: WineSpectator Thanks to a scorchingly hot summer in France, the 2003 Beaujolais harvest is already underway. But don't miss out on the excellent 2002 vintage. These Gamay-based, light red wines (serve them slightly chilled) are...

Money: Never Be Late Again.(tips on avoiding late fees, high interest on credit card bills)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Linda Stern Running's good for your heart and all, but you shouldn't have to race to the mailbox each month just to avoid a late fee on your credit-card bills. Grace periods on cards have narrowed from 30 to 21 days since 1990. And...

Cheat Sheet: Good Old Gridiron.(team and player analysis at start of the football season)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Byline: Mark Starr Get back to your obsession with lines--offensive, defensive, Vegas--and belly up to the bar Thursday for the Jets-Redskins season kickoff. Buc the Trend: No Super Bowl champ has repeated since Denver in '97. But...