USA TODAY articles from January 2004

USA TODAY archives from January 2004

Grading Bush: pass or fail.(Your Life)(John Kessel's study on US Presidents' successes and failures)(verdict still out on George W. Bush)
January 1, 2004... Some pundits actively are discussing whether Pres. Bush's policies on Iraq and the U.S. economy have been sound--and whether they might signal an overall failure of the Bush presidency. Not long ago, though, many of these same critics were...

Why war impacts women.(Your Life)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... In light of the volatile U.S. engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq, it may be time to address the impact of war on women's lives around the world. "Typically the focus of a war is on what happens to a country, what happens to an economy, and how...

Future forecasts for 2004 and beyond.(Your Life)
January 1, 2004... To mark the arrival of 2004, the World Future Society, Bethesda, Md., has released its annual top 10 forecasts for the coming year and beyond: 1. Genetically modified crops may surpass natural crops in acreage planted by 2020. Crops could...

When is a rose a rose?(Your Life; flower breeding)
January 1, 2004... Stop to smell the roses--that is if you can find any that still have scents, If you are among the millions who receive flowers on Valentine's Day, you likely will put your nose to a rose, only to find you cannot catch a whiff of your favorite...

Fires fuel feeding frenzy.(Your Life)(humans should not feed wild animal surivivors of California wildfires)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Feeding wild animals in Southern California's recently burned areas will not help the creatures and may even put them and people in danger, warns Walter Boyce, co-director of the University of California, Davis, Wildlife Health Center. For...

Are wildfires goverment's fault?(Tom Beamish points to poor Government management of population growth and forest resources)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The raging fires that ravaged Southern California in the autumn of 2003 are related less to forests and more to the way government organizes activities in regards to woodlands, indicates Tom Beamish, an assistant professor of sociology at the...

Studying abroad still affordable.(Your Life)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Some students pass up the opportunity to study abroad because they believe it is too expensive. Most fail to realize that the use of financial aid and scholarships can make the practice more affordable. Likewise, many students and their parents...

Married parents provide stability.(Your Life)(differences in stability for white children and Hispanic/African American children)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Children whose parents live together but are net married are twice as likely to face their parents' breakup as those born to married couples, reports a University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (ISR), Ann Arbor, study. By age one,...

Kids happiest when parents play.(Your Life)(children benefit emotionally and intellectually from play with parents)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... In our hurried, harried, "Roadrunner"-type society, in which parents work feverishly to give their children every educational advantage, the concept of simple interaction--and of adults sitting down and playing with their kids--should be at the...

Interview process getting longer.(Your Life)(survey by The Creative Group)(tips for job candidates facing multiple interviews)
January 1, 2004... First impressions count when applying for a new position--and apparently so do second and third. Forty-four percent of advertising and marketing executives polled by The Creative Group, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based specialized staffing service...

Public restrooms stay clean "automatically".(Your Life)
January 1, 2004... The California state legislature has taken action to help solve a problem that exists in schools throughout the nation--toilet facilities that are so dirty and poorly maintained that many students avoid using them. School districts now must...

Job surge years off.(Your Life)
January 1, 2004... While the politicians war over the number of jobs they expect to be created in the economy by November's election, the reality is that we probably will not see a true job market boom for another four years, indicates John A. Challenger, chief...

Perks scarce for new jobs.(Your Life)(employment packages and salary negotiations)(tips for negotiating job offers)
January 1, 2004... Not surprisingly, company cars and country club memberships are showing up in fewer employment offers today, shows a survey by Robert Half Management Resources, Menlo Park, Calif., a provider of senior-level accounting and finance professionals...

(Some) good news on job front.(Your Life)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Finally, some good news on the employment front. Many of the hottest positions in 2004 will be heavily focused on in-person services, thus protecting job-seekers from rampant offshore outsourcing. "The aging population, ongoing security...

Music industry to sing a new tune.(Your Life)(technology forecasted to deliver music to consumers faster and cheaper)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... In the next few years, going to the mall to pick up the latest compact disc by the newest band or pop star will be a thing of the past, proclaims futurist Eric Garland. As wireless devices grow less expensive and consumers become more...

Balancing the budget via veto: "... a new set of checks and balances effectively would be created: Congressional spending would be checked by the president's reduction veto power, and abuse ... would be balanced by Congress' ability to cancel the power with a budget surplus".(National Affairs)
January 1, 2004... FALLING DEFENSE SPENDING and the economic boom of the 1990s helped create the first balanced Federal budget in 29 years in fiscal year 1998. However, it did not last long and surpluses have since flipped to annual deficits of more than...

Events, candidates, and the 2004 election.(State of the Nation)
January 1, 2004... NOT SINCE PRES. JIMMY CARTER'S futile attempts to free the hostages in Iran and tame raging inflation at home do events promise to dictate the outcome of a presidential election. Since 1980, these races have taken place in a reasonably placid...

Iraq: should we stay or should we go? It may be time for the U.S. to cut its losses in the Middle East by accelerating the process of American troop withdrawal by a soveriegn interim Iraqi government.(Worlview)
January 1, 2004... CAB DRIVERS all over the world often tell the truth in an unvarnished manner. A few weeks ago, an 84-year-old African-American cabbie and World War II veteran in Houston, Tex., told me: "George Bush loses if he stays in Iraq, and he loses if he...

Awaiting armageddon: is the paranoia justified? "No one can say that major incidents never again will occur in the U.S., but successful attacks are much more difficult than people realize.".(Worldview)
January 1, 2004... THE PROBLEM with the war against terrorism is that no international terrorist incident, major or minor, has occurred in the U.S. since Sept. 11. Most people would not consider this a problem. Government officials and experts ought to be...

Remembering "the big news". (Words & Images.
January 1, 2004... THE TIME: the 1960s. The CBS-owned-and-operated Los Angeles television station then known as KNXT, Channel Two, created what historians agree was the highest quality local television news program in TV annals. Called, appropriately enough,...

Cynical media is not playing fair: "... When it comes to the exercise of American power in the world, particularly military power, there seems to be a suspicion among those in the media--indeed, a suspicion bordering on a presumption--of illegitimacy, incompetence, and ineffectiveness.".(Mass Media)(media response to Iraq war)(historical record of US military and foreign policy)
January 1, 2004... BEFORE THE CONFLICT in Iraq began, my colleague and friend, the ever-voluble Chris Matthews of NBC, said that if we go to war. "[It] will join the Bay of Pigs, Vietnam... Beirut, and Somalia in the history of military catastrophe." NBC analyst...

The commercialization of farming: producing meat for a hungry world: change "will require a rethinking of our relationship with livestock and the price we are willing to pay for safe, sustainable, humanely-raised food.".(Science & Technology)
January 1, 2004... WALKING through Bobby Inocencio's farm in the Rizal province of the Philippines is like taking a step back to a simpler time. Dozens of chickens roam around freely in large, fenced pens, pecking at various indigenous plants, eating bugs, and...

The sovereign state of taxes.(World Watcher)
January 1, 2004... POLITICAL RISK ANALYSIS has become a much bigger business in the decade and a half since the end of the Cold War. If nothing else, the battle between Communism and Capitalism did provide umbrellas for colonially created states that contained...

Surveying the global marketplace: "half of Xerox's employees work on foreign soil and less than half of Sony's employees are Japanese. More than 50% of IBM's revenues originate overseas; the same is true for Citigroup, ExxonMobil, DuPont, Procter & Gamble, and many other corporate giants.".(Economics)
January 1, 2004... A FEW YEARS AGO, an overnight frost occurred in Brazil. What followed may remind us of the lyrics to the old song: "The ankle bone is connected to the leg bone. The leg bone is connected to the knee bone.... " The global economy truly is...

Fossil fuel's fear factor: "because our environment is so much cleaner today than in previous decades, it is too easy to think of pollution as something far away, in the past, afflicting some distant land we will never see, or as a tragedy that will happen to someone else.".(Ecology)
January 1, 2004... WHEN KATIE COURIC asked the winner of the "Today Show"'s best Christmas lighting display why he spent months planning and mounting a traffic-stopping holiday show around his Miami, Fla., home, he answered, "I guess it's a sickness." He...

Do blacks deserve a national apology? Should today's citizenry be held morally and financially accountable for the misdeeds of America's forefathers?(American Thought)(Cover Story)
January 1, 2004... IN A FEW YEARS, the Smithsonian Institution will include a National Museum of African-American History and Culture devoted exclusively to documenting the "life, art, history, and culture" of black people in America. Spearheaded by Sen. Sam...

Natural selection vs. intelligent design.(Religion)
January 1, 2004... TELL ME, Professor Huxley, are you descended from monkeys on your grandfather's side or your grandmother's side?" This question was posed by Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, England, in a famous debate in 1860. It was the year after...

Fending off private tax collection.(Economic Observer)
January 1, 2004... DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER the song lyrics. "They're Coming to Take Me Away--Ha, Ha"? Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Pamela J. Gardiner announced that the IRS annually planned to place 2,600,000 delinquent taxpayer accounts with...

How Manet saw the sea: the burgeoning French seaside resort culture produced an aesthetic exploration by the artist and his contemporaries that helped usher in the vanguard painting of the Impressionist movement.(Museums Today; Edouard Manet;"Manet and the Sea" exhibition)
January 1, 2004... The MARINE PAINTINGS of Edouard Manet comprise a little-studied but highly significant aspect of career of the artist who is sometimes referred to as the father of Impressionism. Manet's seascapes--ranging from 1864 to shortly before his death...

Disney World rockets into the 21st century: a futuristic space attraction, another visually astounding vacation village, and a dazzling fireworks display keep folks clamoring for the magic only Disney delivers.(Going Places)
January 1, 2004... Thirty years ago, my father surprised us with the exciting news that we would be taking a vacation to a great new place in Florida Wait Disney World. We wondered what could be so special that it would be worth a two-day drive from New York to...

Felons deserve the right to vote: "disenfranchisement laws not only are unfair, they are undemocratic and injurious. They compromise the country's political legitimacy and its moral authority to exact obedience and loyalty from those it presumes to represent.".(Laws & Justice)
January 1, 2004... IN THE 2000 presidential election, one of 50 U.S. adult citizens--4,200,000 nationwide--were ineligible to vote. These disempowered Americans are former convicts, men and women who have completed their sentences, paroles, and the terms of...

Cry the beloved Cubbie.(Sports Scene)
January 1, 2004... "Life is a comedy to those who think; a tragedy to those who feel" is one of the clever truisms you'll find listed in Bartlett's Book of Quotations. Sony, Cub and Red Sox fans; we may feel your pain, but the fact that it's been a combined 182...

Educational interventions: possibilities for improvement? "It certainly would be legitimate for taxpayers--who foot the bill for the 90% of students who attend public schools--to ask why, after three decades of reform, there is no measurable progress".(Education)
January 1, 2004... ONE of the most prominent issues in the U.S. today is school reform. Educators, politicians, and the general public 'all identify file need to improve the educational system. A bipartisan opinion poll conducted in 2002 by the Educational...

The devastating toll of Alzheimer's disease on patients and caregivers: "the impact of the disease extends well beyond those who have it ... At least 70% of those stricken live at home, where their families provide 75% of the needed care".(Medicine & Health)
January 1, 2004... AT THIS TIME OF YEAR, it is common to reflect on the occurrences of the previous 12 months and to contemplate the year ahead. However, think for a moment what it would be like if you could not remember any details of your life last year, and...

Along comes another Coppola.(Reel World; Sofia Coppola; "Lost in Translation")(Movie Review)
January 1, 2004... AS A FILM PROFESSOR AND AUTHOR, I see a lot of movies----often one or two a day. Granted, a goodly number are celebrated classics for classroom use. However, to keep both my instruction and scholarship timely, I try to see most everything that...

PowerPhrases: the key to winning respect: saying what you mean and meaning what you say can help you become heard.(Life in America)
January 1, 2004... WHY IS IT THAT one person sometimes gets results from at he or she says while another goes unnoticed? Why is it that an idea sometimes is credited not to the originator, but to the person who eventually makes it happen'? Do you know someone who...

The art of managing conflict: it does no good to run away from disagreement and discord. Confronting conflict head-on will make any organization run smoother.(Business & Finance)
January 1, 2004... WE ARE NOT comfortable, and, in fact, even fear dealing straight up with conflict. We are taught to run away from it, "turn the other cheek," "let sleeping clogs lie," and that "if you do not have something nice to say, do not say anything at...

Diane Arbus': revelations of life: her "gift for rendering strange those things we consider most familiar continues to challenge our assumptions about the nature of everyday life and compels us to look at the world in a new way.".(Focus on America; "Diane Arbus: Revelations" exhibition)
January 1, 2004... DIANE ARBUS found most of her subjects in New York City, a place that she explored as both a known geography and foreign land. She primarily was a photographer of people she discovered in the metropolis and its environs during the 1950s and...

Perfect practicality.(What's new? Toys galore & more; Rubbermaid Home Products)
January 1, 2004... There are some companies that just seem to have a knack for practicality. No matter what the product line, consumers can't help but think, "What a great idea; I could use that." So it is with Rubbermaid Home Products, Wooster, Ohio. In...

Lights out.(What's new? Toys galore & more; Christmas Light Company )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Although we hold out as long as possible, sad to say, this is the month when the outdoor Christmas lights simply have to come down, lf there's anything more depressing than removing Xmas bulbs from the house, it's getting them all tangled up in...

Learning is fun.(What's new? Toys galore & more)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... We're the kind of stodgy parents who limit the kids' TV viewing, make sure they read (or get read to) every day, and insist that time spent on the computer is put to productive use. When we acquired our first PC some eight years ago, we...

Let's play games.(What's new? Toys galore & more)
January 1, 2004... Games that most family members can enjoy laying together have long-lasting appeal. This season's crop includes a few golden oldies in spruced-up guise, along with some new faces on traditional approaches, with enough variety to differentiate...

Spring fling.(What's new? Toys galore & more; Akadema toys)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... While another wild winter--hey, we lucky Northeasterners already have enjoyed record snowfalls for early December--doesn't have us pining for springtime blossoms or summer pool parties, we must admit to missing baseball; not the major league...

Hasbro has it.(What's new? Toys galore & more)
January 1, 2004... We wouldn't exactly call it one-stop shopping, but should you find a store that carries the complete line of games and toys from Hasbro, Inc., Pawtucket, R.I., your search for the perfect gift for the child in your life will have ended. Here's...

Cranium moments.(What's new? Toys galore & more; board game)
January 1, 2004... A simple idea--give everyone a chance to shine--led to the creation of Cranium: The Game for Your Whole Brain. Designed so that no player feels left out, Cranium became the fastest-selling independent board game in history. Applying this...

By a whisker.(What's new? Toys galore & more; The Art of Shaving,)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... A Stiff Drink and a Close Shave is a book that came out a few years back, bemoaning our harried lifestyle and its eventual effect: the loss of simple, take-your-time pleasures, which brings us to The Art of Shay ing, a new volume that believes...

Surviving the season.(What's new? Toys galore & more; Rumba Games)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... "We're giving our fans what they've been asking for, the chance to play like a 'Survivor' contestant. Immunity Challenges, a host and Tribal Council jury, tribal alliances, and a ballot box to vote opponents off--all the elements are there,"...

What time is it?(What's new? Toys galore & more; Clock Books)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Of the many things parents must teach children, how to tell time is one of the most difficult. Sure, once they know their numbers, they can repeat the time from a digital clock, but it also is necessary to learn how to read a clock with hands....

Modern enginuity.(What's new? Toys galore & more; Target)
January 1, 2004... On a recent snowy day, we sat down and taught our seven-year-old how to play the card game Rummy. As she's starting to outgrow many of her "junior" board games, we figured it was time she learned some of the classics. She immediately took to...

Step up.(what's new? Toys galore & more; Cosco Home & Office Products ladder)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Modesty, opined the great Sherlock Holmes, can hardly be considered a virtue. Underestimating one's ability is just as serious a flaw as is overestimating it. That said, we applaud Cosco Home & Office Products, a division of the Dorel Juvenile...

Seeing is believing.(What's new? Toys galore & more; Panoptx eyewear)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The perfect outdoor eyewear for skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, or winter hiking? Well, it should combine the comfort, style, and convenience of sunglasses with the protection of a goggle. Look no further than the Windless Eyewear Line from...

Dry up.(What's new? Toys galore & more)(Sahara Shoe and Boot Dryer from Applica, Miami Lakes, Fla.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... While it always seems to be the little things that drive you crazy, it's the simple things that inevitably make life more enjoyable. Witness the Sahara Shoe and Boot Dryer from Applica, Miami Lakes, Fla. How folks residing in the Sunshine State...

Toasty tootsies.(What's new? Toys galore & more)(Foot Buddy, personal foot heater from Holmes Group)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... When your feet are cold, so is the rest of you--just ask your paperboy, mailman, or the guys who work for UPS and FedEx. Ah, but when those tootsies are toasty, your whole body is just a big old bundle of warmth. Enter Foot Buddy, the personal...

Young swingers.(What's new? Toys galore & more)(Grace Children's Products baby swing)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2004... For the history of baby swings, you need go no further than Grace Children's Products, Exton, Pa. The company sold the world's first windup automatic baby swing in 1955. Thirty years later, it introduced the first battery operated version--as...

Shaken or stirred.(What's new? Toys galore & more)(TURI Vodka and the Martini Pitcher Gift Set, imported from Estonia by Casdon Importing Co., Miami, Fla.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... "Never drink cheap liquor" is perhaps the soundest advice ever offered on the new hit show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." America apparently agrees, as super premium imports are up 20% and are expected to grow by 2,500,000 cases by 2005. And...

A dentist in your suitcase?(What's new? Toys galore & more)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... As longtime fans of the Water Pik, we have welcomed the reassurance that the jets have blasted out the food embedded between our teeth after a meal. The one regret has always been that the device is too large to carry with us on business trips,...

Sweets for the sweet.(What's new? Toys galore & more)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... For us, Valentine's Day represents the crescendo of a delicious fourmonth candy-eating odyssey that began back in October with Halloween, graduated to the wonderful sweets of Thanksgiving, picked up steam with a potpourri of treats during...

Look a weigh!(What's new? Toys galore & more)(bathroom scales with a large dial)
January 1, 2004... The growing trend toward obesity has become a national concern over the past few years, much cautioned about by medical spokesmen, ballyhooed in the media, and, for the most part, bemoaned by Americans watching their waists swell. New diets are...

Holiday extension.(What's new? Ttoys galore & more)(Brief Review)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2004... As the song has so long proclaimed, "It's the most wonderful time of the year." Personally, we hate to say so-long to the holiday season, so we don't--at least for awhile. One way we keep the spirit bright is through listening to Christmas...

Countertop beanery.(What's new? Toys galore & more)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Once Americans got really serious about their cottee, things began to change rapidly in the kitchen. It certainly became clear that instant coffee wasn't going to do it any longer. Next, just plucking a can off the supermarket shelf became a...

Retro lava.(What's new? Toys galore & more)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Groovy. Far-out. Cool. Make love, not war. We admit it. When growing up in the late 1960s and early 1970s, these were all popular catch-phrases, spoken by ourselves and those around us. Pretty scary, huh? While the lingo of the hippie...

Outta sight.(What's new? Toys galore & more)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The ubiquitous supermarket query, "Paper or plastic?:' has many repercussions. Do you want to be blamed for destroying the forests if you request paper bags, or filling landfills with plastic ones that may not biodegrade for centuries? Sure,...

Museum memo.(What's new? Toys galore & more)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
January 1, 2004... What's new in museums around the country? Among the more interesting exhibitions on view are: Love and Yearning: Mystical and Moral Themes in Persian Poetry and Painting, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.,...

The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm.(Book Review)(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... BY THOMAS P. GRAZULIS UNIVERSITY OOF OKLAHOMA PRESS 2003, 352 PAGES, $19.95 This guide contains everything you ever wanted to know about tornadoes but were afraid to ask. Thomas P. Grazulis, director of The Tornado Project, has produced an...

Communicating Health Personal, Cultural, and Political Complexities.(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... BY PATRICIA G. MARTIN, EILEEN B. RAY, AND BARBARA F. SHARF THOMPSON/WADSWORTH PUBLISHERS 2003, 282 PAGES, $54.95 This book should be attractive not only to health professionals, but to intelligent, openminded adults in all walks of life. It...

101 Ways To Be a Terrific Sports Parent.(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... BY JOEL FISH (WITH SUSAN MAGEE) SIMON AND SHUSTER 2003, 302 PAGES, $14.00 It probably is safe to say that behind every young athlete there typically exists an excited, exuberant, and exhausted set of parents. However, irritability and ill...

Fundamentalism and all that jazz.(Parting Thoughts)
January 1, 2004... A FEW YEARS AGO, a conference was held at the University of Oklahoma to explore the problems the world faced. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, a participant, maintained that religious fundamentalists and their intolerant attitudes...