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in Newsweek
by
Pat Wingert, 19 May 2008
With summer approaching, the Indoor Tanning Association is gearing up for a campaign to advocate sun bathing for health reasons: sunlight is a source of vitamin D, which has been shown to prevent some kinds of cancer. Skin experts resist these claims, showing links between tanning, both indoor and out, to skin cancer and melanoma. High school girls hyper-conscious of their self-image have been spending record amounts of time in the tanning beds, and experts say that even if cancer is avoided, excessive tanning leads to wrinkles and sick, leathery skin. A somewhat interesting piece, if light on substance.
Posted 11:13, 14 May 2008
This abstract was written by
Michael Kaminsky
and edited by Brijit.
At the outset of the nomination race, Hillary Clinton looked like an inevitable winner, armed with experience, money, connections and dogged determination. However, these advantages turned out to be more of a liability for Clinton, spurring an overconfidence that, combined with the "love her or hate her" view Americans have about her, ruined her chances. In this massive piece, the authors discuss Clinton's rise and fall, analyzing her appearances and weighing what went wrong. While this thorough feature is well-written and informative, it may be too lengthy for readers already exhausted from the extended nomination battle.
Posted 10:26, 14 May 2008
This abstract was written by
Brian Willett
and edited by Brijit.
in Newsweek
by
Andrew Murr, 12 May 2008
Apropos of the recent raid on the polygamist sect outside Eldorado, Texas, Murr writes a reminder of a similar action 55 years ago. Trying to enforce polygamy laws, Arizona governor J. Howard Pyle took the entire town of Short Creek into custody, only to release them due to public outcry. With 58 percent of the girls between 14 and 17 at Eldorado being pregnant or mothers already, the Texas government plans to ignore polygamy entirely, prosecuting only sexual abuses. The intelligent question Murr poses is this: Will the lessons of Short Creek be remembered, or will images of forlorn mothers trump the law again?
Posted 12:12, 7 May 2008
This abstract was written by
Jonathan Gallaway
and edited by Brijit.
in Newsweek
by
Evan Thomas, 12 May 2008
Some liberal thinkers and commentators are starting to change their tune on Ronald Reagan. In an interesting interview, left-leaning historian Sean Wilentz argues that Ronald Reagan was transformational in how he shaped American politics. Conservative commentator George Will also chimes in during the interview transcript, making for a nice dialogue with Wilentz. The two explore Reagan's legacy in relation to the Cold War, his impact on the tax code, and economics. This article is also timely as it relates to the 2008 election, with both Barack Obama and John McCain invoking Ronald Reagan in their respective campaigns.
Posted 11:55, 7 May 2008
This abstract was written by
Derek Walter
and edited by Brijit.
in Newsweek
by
Paul Tolme, 12 May 2008
Chinook salmon's going to be in short supply this year, with a 90 percent drop in fish resulting in shutting down the season entirely in California and Oregon. No one knows exactly why so few salmon returned to the Sacramento River last fall; blame is heaped upon pollution, water diversion, and lack of ocean food sources. But all is not dire: Alaska's well-managed salmon fisheries are still doing well, the only caveat being that diners will be urged to try other salmon species like sockeye. Tolme briskly visits several facets of the salmon issue in this well-written piece.
Posted 11:14, 7 May 2008
This abstract was written by
Amy DeGeus
and edited by Brijit.
in Newsweek
by
Anna Kuchment, 12 May 2008
It's a marriage of opposites: giant "fast casual" restaurant chain Chipotle and an Arkansas co-op of small-town pig farmers. Since 2000, Chipotle has committed to serving humanely raised meat and contracted with dozens of small suppliers. Kuchment talks extensively with Russ Kremer of the pig co-op, and smartly couches the partnership alongside the larger picture, especially the trend toward local, organic foods and the pressure on small farmers to implement "factory" type techniques. The growing pains, and ultimate success, of the relationships between corporation and farmer make for fascinating reading, particularly within the context of fast food.
Posted 10:40, 7 May 2008
This abstract was written by
Amy DeGeus
and edited by Brijit.
in Newsweek
by
David Gates, 12 May 2008
Niagara Falls may be billed as a great natural wonder, but its flow is entirely controlled by man: Technicians diverting water for hydropower actually double the falls' flow during the daytime in tourist season. Ginger Strand's book Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, and Lies explores this contradiction and the marketing machine that has inspired everything from myths of human sacrifice to (it appears) the brand name Viagra. Perhaps the most shocking tale is of the man-made "Love Canal" whose 82 chemicals allegedly caused the birth of a three-eared baby. Gates' feature is an effective review, both summarizing and assessing the book.
Posted 10:17, 7 May 2008
This abstract was written by
John Lister
and edited by Brijit.
in Newsweek
by
Fareed Zakaria, 12 May 2008
A seismic shift in the geopolitical landscape since the break up of the Soviet Union has many Americans wondering what happened to the legendary prosperity that we were accustomed to. The answer has less to do with what America did wrong than what the rest of the world did right. Economies emerging out of India and China have proved to be powerhouses, and while Zakaria points out that in areas like education and military, America is still dominant, it was US international policy that led to the current state of the globe. The article, an excerpt from Zakaria's book The Post-American World, is a sobering reality check for the last superpower.
Posted 10:11, 7 May 2008
This abstract was written by
Jonathan Gallaway
and edited by Brijit.
in Newsweek
by
Jonathan Alter, 5 May 2008
"Hope" may be one of Barack Obama's favorite words, but is it really enough to carry him through election day? Alter provides a superficial rundown of the seemingly eternal pull between "hope" candidates (FDR, Jimmy Carter, and even Ronald Reagan) who offer a positive vision to uplift their voters, and "fear" candidates (George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Hillary Clinton) who capitalize on voters' concerns over threats to their stability. Unfortunately, Alter's sketchy article offers little in the way of compelling insight into how voters will respond to the candidates' tactics this year.
Posted 3:01, 1 May 2008
This abstract was written by
Ty Bannerman
and edited by Brijit.
Barack Obama waves away the elitist label, but Rove writes, "It's not where you start life, it's where you end up." Rove advises Obama to retool his stump speech to bring back the magic of his early campaign days, when his words seemed to come from the heart. He urges the senator to act decisively in both his actions and his statements. While he will likely win the nomination, Democrats are nervous about the fall, Rove says, because he has "given them reasons to be." The famously calculating Rove adopts a "dust yourself off and get up" tone toward Obama that sometimes veers toward condescension.
Posted 2:32, 1 May 2008
This abstract was written by
Ashley Eldridge
and edited by Brijit.