"Ending Famine, Simply by Ignoring the Experts"

This article is about fertilizer and seed subsidies in Malawi. Here's the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/world/africa/02malawi.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&th&emc=th

It is pretty well-balanced, I think, in terms of who gets the most voice. There is plenty of background, and both the President and Agriculture Ministry officials commented. There were a few Western economists, too. The article ends by showing the process that a village, Chembe, used to decide which families would get access to their allotment of fertilizer and seed subsidies.

The article essentially says that Western leaders, including those at the World Bank, have discouraged Malawians from using subsidies for fertilizer. Instead, they have emphasized that farmers should use their land to grow cash crops, and use their profits to import food. However, Malawian soil--and that in much of sub-Saharan Africa--is so badly depleted that fertilizer is practically a necessity at this point.

Most Western nations, especially Great Britian and the United States, subsidize their own farmers for a variety of crops.

This year, a new subsidy program for seed and fertilizer, combined with good rains, resulted in an excess food crop. Malawi was in a position to export corn to other nations for the first time in years.

Although some economists caution that it is difficult to say how much of the crop surplus can be attributed to the rain, and urge caution to ensure future benefit to farmers, the program seems at present to be a success.

This article spread out the boring but necessary information well, and used enough quotes to make the issue seem almost like a round-table discussion. There was a seamless quality about the way different interviewees responded to each others' concerns. The tone was overall optimistic, which appears to mirror Malawians' feelings.

The Unexpected Danger of Study Abroad: Final Draft

Lauren Lynch, K '08, lived with her host family just outside of Clermont-Ferrand, France. One evening, she went out with another woman, but the buses stopped running at 11 p.m. They planned to walk partway home together. They ran into another student they knew. He offered to walk Lynch home, but wanted to stop at his place for a jacket.
Lynch said she was raped by that student. "I had to go the the process alone--in French. On Thanksgiving," she said.
Margaret Wiedenhoeft at the Center for International Programs (CIP) said that the CIP hears about two to three sexual assault reports each year. Sexual assault includes but is not limited to rape. Students don’t always come forward—Resident Directors must tell the college if they are told of an assault. The number of students who report their sexual assault is an under-representation of the actual number.
Wiedenhoeft said the initial concern of the CIP is the student’s physical wellbeing. The CIP’s main goal is to “be guided by what the survivor wants,” she said.
The CIP helps students prevent and deal with sexual assault. They distribute emergency information to students during study abroad orientation, including an optional panel called “Women and Study Abroad.” The panel explains “how being a woman can affect your experience,” she said.
Once students arrive on-site, Resident Directors give out emergency information. The Director also reminds students of how women are perceived in that culture. Students’ options in terms of formal actions vary by program.
Following the incident, Lynch told a program professor that she was raped. They professor reported the assault to the Resident Director and the CIP.
Lynch said her Resident Director “probably would have been [helpful] if I had talked to him, but I just didn’t feel comfortable.”
Last spring, Lynch recommended that the CIP hire a more approachable female assistant director for her program, and clump the students’ host families together. The CIP did both.
Lynch remains unsatisfied with the CIP’s ability to help her while she studied abroad. She feels the on-site orientation was incomplete.
“I found out later we were supposed to get a packet from out program director about what to do in emergencies and we…didn’t get one,” she said.
Lynch didn’t have internet access at her homestay, and didn’t remember the emergency information handout.
“I didn’t know I was supposed to not wash my clothes and go straight to the hospital,” she said.
Authorities advised Lynch to talk to the Kalamazoo College counseling center, but she chose not to. She just wanted to push through her last two months, she said.
Dr. Pat Ponto, director of the counseling center, said that in her 20 years working at K, she has seen about 10 students who said they had been sexually assaulted on study abroad.
“With the students I have known, they did not tell the college,” Ponto said. Some of the students were assaulted but not raped. Ponto suspected that students who were not raped might have chosen not to inform the college as a way to help them deal with their trauma.
Another student who was raped last year on study abroad in Nairobi, Kenya, and who wishes to be identified as Savanna, was dissatisfied with the CIP.
Savanna accepted an invitation to dinner and drinks with the host brother of another K student. There was attraction on both sides, but Savanna told him she did not want to sleep with him. He raped her anyway. She tried not to think about it while her mother visited. It wasn’t until another host brother assured her that wasn’t how all Kenyan men behaved that she reported it.
She and her Resident Director agreed that they would not tell the CIP, but Savanna’s Resident Director informed the college without telling her, she said. She was never contacted by the CIP or the counseling center, even though both knew her situation, she said.
“I was under the impression that if the CIP knew, they would’ve sent at least one email, to see if I was ok,” she said. Savanna also said she was not encouraged to get medical attention.
The CIP tells students to avoid excessive drinking during orientation. However, drinking is part of Kenyan culture, and Savanna trusted the group of host siblings who took her and her friends out.
Savanna and Lynch want a mandatory “Women and Study Abroad” panel.
Dr. Joe Brockington said the CIP will not comment on individual students’ cases. He also said that the CIP is hesitant to make “Women and Study Abroad” mandatory.
“Students, in general, are against mandatory anything…[and] if we make something mandatory, then there needs to be a consequence for not going,” he said.
According to Brockington, K programs discuss student safety at meeting including all the Resident Directors and much of the CIP staff every two years. The CIP relies on the Resident Directors to be knowledgeable about students’ legal rights, and to inform students of those rights on-site.
“We encourage them to put [that information] in the packet; it’s something we’ll take up…this summer,” he said.
“I don’t blame the CIP,” said Savanna. “I don’t know, if I would have heard [my] story, if it would have changed anything, but it would have been one more story in the back of my mind while I was making decisions.”

Gag Order Extended In Detroit

An article by Ben Schmitt in the Detroit Free Press today, while intriguing, has a terrible kicker.

Here's the link:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/NEWS02/71129045/1118/RSS

Daniel Sorenson, 26, of River Rouge, was stabbed and decapitated on November 7th. Jean Pierre Orlewicz and Alexander Letkemann, 17 and 18, of Plymouth and Westland, have been charged with the murder.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has made a public statement about the case, calling it a "thrill kill."

Judge Michael Gerou has since issued a gag order relating to character witnesses on both sides. Letkemann's father and attorney have argued that this is unfair, but the victim's mother is in favor of it.

Although the rest of the article is concise and well-written, the kicker is lacking. It was a great quote, so I understand why Schmitt wanted to use a quote kicker, but he could have set it up better. Here's the kicker: "When asked what Sorensen would say to the parents of the suspects, she said, 'God be with you. We're all suffering here.'"

Chinese Energy Economy

There's an article in today's NYT about Chinese dam-building as an effort to create a sustainable energy source and reduce China's considerable greenhouse emissions. It's titled "Chinese Dam Projects Criticized for Their Human Costs," and it's by Jim Yardley.

Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/world/asia/19dam.html?em&ex=1195621200&en=6cb574cf4f146327&ei=5087%0A

The article presents the arguments for creating a sustainable energy source in China, but also critiques China's methods in carrying out their dam-building projects. The Chinese government has relocated upwards of a million people in the process of building the Three Gorges Dam. On top of that, there are also serious consequences to the environment. "The dam was spawning environmental problems like water pollution and landslides that could become severe," said the article.

I thought the article was well-structured, with a good lede and effective quotes. Yardley weaved statistics in without letting them get boring.

I thought this was the best statistic in the whole article: "Just last year, China added 102 gigawatts of generating capacity, as much as the entire capacity of France."

In-Class Crime/Disaster Story Rewrite

KALAMAZOO, Mich.--A suspected arson killed one child and injured two others in the Oakwood neighborhood at 2 a.m. this morning, said police, who have arrested two suspects.
Tiffany Blanchard, 3, was pronounced dead of smoke inhalation at 3:57 a.m., said hospital officials. Tiffany's brothers Terry and Tory were treated and released for minor injuries, officials said.
The three children were the only ones still in the building when firefighters arrived on the scene at 2:15 a.m., following at 2:10 phone call, according to Fire Department Deputy Chief Patricia Clarksen.
Clarksen said that Fire Marshall Sam Johnson is investigating the cause of the fire; currently, he suspects arson. She reported that the fire department's black lab detected the presence of an accelerant on the scene. The building was completely destroyed in the fire; estimated damages are $250,000, she said.
Lt. Regina Santarpio of the Kalamazoo Police Department said that two suspects, Vincent DeNofrio, 33, of Mattawan, and a 16-year-old, also of Mattawan, are scheduled for arraignment this morning. According to police, neighbors said they saw one man with a container and one juvenile running from the scene at about midnight.
Police said that the fire appeared to be an arson started by the estranged boyfriend of tenant Marie Blanchard, 32. According to witnesses, DeNofrio had spent time intermittently at her apartment, Santarpio said. "What I can say without hesitation," she said, "is that there is a nexus between Marie Blanchard, Vincent DeNofrio, and the fire."

Good Feature

My feature example is from today's New York Times. It is the first of three articles covering New York City's foster care problems. The article is entitled "Foster Children at Risk, and an Opportunity Lost," with the alternate titles "A History of Neglect: Breach of Faith." Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/nyregion/05foster.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Author Leslie Kaufman focuses mainly on Luis Medina, onetime director of St. Christopher's Inc. St. Christopher's is a foster agency in New York City; Medina is a Latino who grew up in a household that took in foster children, especially black and Latino children. He grew up to become an advocate for a different kind of foster care in New York City.

Medina felt that the largely white-run foster care system, both private and public, in New York City, was doing little to aid the plight of minority families. Indeed, he felt they were contributing to the problems, and was very outspoken about getting things changed. Due in large part to his activism, a twenty-year "ambitious undertaking to improve foster care for the city's black and Latino children [which] has spanned four mayoral administrations and consumed hundreds of millions of dollars in city, state and federal money" began. He was hired as the director of St. Christopher's in the early 1990's.

Medina's ideas were fairly simple: that white foster care providers had more of an interest in collecting their paychecks than in aiding New York's poorest families. In the interest of keeping children out of foster care for longer than necessary, and of placing them back with their parents as often as possible, while keeping them within their communities in the meantime, black and Latino caseworkers would be hired, and children would be placed with foster families close to where they lived.

Not only is this not what happened in the long run (although there were a few years of great success), St. Christopher's was a worse offender than most in neglecting and/or botching its foster cases. Between 1999 and 2005, seven children died due to the neglect of St. Christopher's workers.

This is a well-done feature in most respects. It starts with a semi-hard news lede, which tells us what, when, where, why, and part of who. The article, for the most part, keeps each person quoted within their own section (the exception being Medina), and organizes the information well into sections.

The only thing I didn't like about the article was that the balance seemed off to me. Depending on which point of view Kaufman was representing, her tone seemed to change. As I read, I could almost feel her sympathizing with each point of view as it came up, which was disturbing. I think she might have gotten a little too close to her subjects and lost some objectivity. I also think she could have laid out the problems a little more concisely. I noticed partway through that I tended to get a bit lost.

"Major Libraries Rejecting Deals On Online Books: Some Shun Tech Giants"

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/technology/22library.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

This article appeared on the front page of yesterday's NYT. It's by Katie Hafner. The gist of the article is that Google and Microsoft are offering to scan books--mostly old books past copyright protections--into internet databases for free. The catch is that, for each service, the information would only be searchable through that company's website.

So, if Google were to scan the entire collection of the New York Public Library, everyone could access the information, but only by using Google. Other search engines wouldn't have access to it.

A lot of libraries and librarians are balking at this; they worry that such a setup gives too much power over information to individual companies. The alternative to this setup is for libraries to use the Open Content Alliance, which costs libraries and users money. However, the cost is shared between members, so it still helps moderate the cost to libraries. Some libraries (with good funding) are opting to scan in their collections themselves, but this is the most expensive option. The upshot of their time and expense is that they can set their own rules about accessibility.

Some libraries that prefer the O.C.A. alternative are the Boston Public Library and the Smithsonian Institution. Others that see no problem with offers from Microsoft and Google are the New York Public Library, and the libraries at the University of Michigan, Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford. The Library of Congress, with the help of a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is scanning its own collection.

Naval Hero Will Be Missed

Retired firefighter and Navy Ensign Jeffrey R. Ahson, 79, died last night at his home in Kalamazoo, according to Navy officials. He died of emphysema.
Ahson was promoted to ensign, and recieved the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross, while serving aboard the USS Emery during the Battle of Midway in June, 1942. He saved four wounded sailors and recovered the body of a gunner, assuming his post to shoot down three planes. “Ahson was a genuine American hero,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jeraldine Fyfe of U.S. Naval Public Relations.
Ahson was born in Chico, Calif., in 1926. He left the Navy in 1946. He moved to Kalamazoo, serving as a firefighter until 1966. Ahson worked as a new-car salesman until his retirement in 1985.
His enthusiasm for firefighting went far beyond a passion for his job. Known as a firefighter historian, he collected firefighting memorabilia, including a 1924 fire truck he restored with friends. Ahson used his collection to educate area children, driving his fire truck to elementary schools. He generously left his collection to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, where it is on permanent display.
Ahson was a commander of American Legion Post 702, a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4206, the Elks Lodge, the National Checkers Association, and Gideons International. He also ushered at John Calvin Presbyterian Church.
He is survived by his wife, Therese Alpert, and three children, Richard D. Ahson of Phillipsburg, Kan., Angela Molino of Omaha, Neb., and Lela Stalling of Pipe Creek, Texas. He is also survived by a brother and two sisters, five children, and five grandchildren.
Services will be held at Littleton Mortuary on Saturday at 10:30 am., followed by burial at Memorial Park Cemetery. Viewing will be at the mortuary from 4:00 to 5:30 pm and from 7:30 to 9:00 pm on Friday. The family requests no flowers.

Reduction of the German Welfare State

An article showed up last week in the Wall Street Journal. Here's the link:

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119273795569263815.html

It starts with an almost-Wall Street Journal lede, setting the scene with Germans hunched in the rain waiting for soup and bread from a handout-truck. It then details the story of Hans Martin, an older man who used to work in a factory but can't get a new job because of his heart condition.

A new welfare law in Germany, "Hartz IV," was designed and implemented in 2005. It has been controversial since its inception; on the one hand, it saves the government a lot of money by cutting stipends to the chronically or long-term unemployed. The idea is to try and get some who have become complacent to go back to work and to ease the strain on government tills in a time when Germany is undergoing more economic troubles.

The result has been that, while the government saves money, it is much more difficult for a lot of the unskilled and minimally-skilled unemployed to survive. Many are losing their jobs to outsourcing and cannot find new ones, nor can they feed their families (or themselves) on the smaller stipends. Since Germans are used to thinking of charity as coming from the state, they are reluctant to give to the poor beyond what they pay in taxes.

This puts the poor in a difficult position. However, some groups are stepping up, inspired by New York's City Harvest. The "table" movement, as it is being called, takes food given by grocery stores which is close to sell-by date, minimally damaged, or is extra, and sells it to the poor for a pittance. This trend is catching on in Germany, as over 700 towns across Germany have set up a "table." Some "tables" also have a canteen and/or food truck as well as a grocery store.

This article seemed well-constructed to me, giving background where needed, and using quotes effectively to convey people's feelings about the growing poverty problem in Germany.

"An Internet Jihad aims at U.S. Viewers"

From today's New York Times, news that there are an increasing number of English-language blogs that are spreading the message of Jihad. The apparent targets of these blogs are young English-speaking Muslims, especially Americans, who are discontented with the war in Iraq and the perceived war on Islam.

Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/us/15net.html?hp

The article deals with several sources, including the parents of Samir Khan, who broadcasts from his parents' house in North Carolina, as well as Khan himself. Although Khan was born in Saudi Arabia, he is a U.S. citizen. He has only become interested in militant jihad in recent years. Khan's parents are deeply concerned about his views and have tried to talk him out of them, even asking an imam to come and speak to him. They are worried that he may take to militant action himself, as opposed to simply sending on Al Qaeda's message. Currently he is not breaking any laws. Khan's site has been taken down a few times, however, due to complaints by readers to his service provider.

The only difficulty I have with the article is with a quote on the first page, from Abu Saleh, a 21-year-old German. He says of viewing online Al Qaede videos, "It is as if you would watch a Hollywood movie...The Internet has totally changed my view on things." Is the reporter taking what he said out of context, or does Saleh not realize how little sense what he said makes? Such a dilemma.

Obituary

The Detroit Free Press ran an obituary on Friday, October 12, for Madeleine Thompson, an English teacher at Ann Arbor Huron High School. She was 66 and died of aortic dissection.

This obituary is really well structured. It goes from the lede right into the highlights and narrative before discussing survivors and services.

Most of it is well-written, too. It is succinct and to the point throughout most of the body. The lede seems poorly done, however. It might have been re-worded: "The decision to retire from teaching last spring wasn't an easy one for Madeleine Thompson. When the popular English and humanities teacher announced her retirement, it was met with..." The last sentence could even have been broken up, since it's very long.

Link to the obituary:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071012/NEWS08/710120428/1010&GID=uFmrQ4azsJUUIexFvmWR6ZO0MoQn+Y35FNBY0fxJ30I%3D

Cosmetic Surgery Gets More Invasive

'Recontouring' And Its Critics, by Natasha Singer, 10/4/07

Ads for cosmetic surgery of women's genitals are becoming more prevalent.

Procedures range from "Feminine Reconstructive Surgery" for "postpartum reconturing" to "labioplasty" and "vaginoplasty," which reduce the labia and tighten the vagina, according to ads found in September's New York magazine. These procedures claim to improve "sexual satisfaction, cosmetic appearance, and self-esteem."

These procedures have become more common as pornography has become more acceptable. Greater incidence of pubic hair removal is also responsible for greater scrutiny of this area.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists warned against these procedures last month, based on lack of medical evidence to support their claims and the danger involved in these procedures. Infection, scarring, and sexual pain are all side effects. Although there are few women signing up for these procedures, the numbers are increasing and doctors are concerned.

New York Times

Radar Guns Banned to Preserve Health of Officers

MERIDAN, Conn.--Connecticut State Police ordered a ban on hand-held radar guns yesterday, a state police spokesman said. Concerns that troopers might develop cancer due to long-term exposure to the radiation the guns emit drove the decision.
State police spokesman Adam Berluti said, "The feeling here is to err on the side of caution until more is known about the issue." The decision to withdraw the guns is unique among state police departments.
The precautionary ban will give researchers a chance to study the possible links between cancer and use of the devices without further risking danger to state troopers. This ban affects 70 guns, which will be withdrawn from service.
Since state troopers use radar units with transmitter mounted on the outside of their vehicles, those units will remain in use. Two months ago, three municipal police officers in Connecticut filed worker's compensation claims, saying they had developed cancer from using hand-held radar guns.

Hard News Lede

There's a great hard news lede on the article U.S. Jury Finds Against Knicks In Harassment from the NYT on Wednesday, Oct. 3rd.

"A federal jury in Manhattan found yesterday that Madison Square Garden and Knicks coach Isiah Thomas sexually discriminated against a former top executive and ordered that the company and its chairman--but not the team's coach--pay her $11.6 million in punitive damages."

It's timely--the news is from yesterday. The lede states who, what, why, and how (much). It emphasizes the magnitude of the case by telling us first that a federal jury reviewed the case. It also gives us the impact last, in the amount of money to be payed in damages.