Kate Zernike's Blog, page 29

Lugar Runs on Moderation in Immoderate Times

A moderate Republican, Senator Richard G. Lugar is running on the bet that the Tea Party's call of alarm has drowned out a majority of Republicans who specialize in reaching across the aisle.

With Kumon, Fast-Tracking to Kindergarten?

Enrichment programs like Kumon are gaining from, and generating, parental anxiety about what kind of preparation children need — and whether parents themselves have what it takes to provide it.

Tea Party Express Endorses Nelson Rival in Nebraska

The Tea Party Express, whose money and endorsements proved key to the victories of several Senate candidates in 2010, will back Jon Bruning, currently Nebraska's attorney general, in his bid to unseat Senator Ben Nelson, a Democrat.

Born Into Privilege, Bin Laden Became the Face of Global Terror

Osama bin Laden, who was killed in Pakistan early Monday, was a son of the Saudi elite whose radical, violent campaign to recreate a seventh-century Muslim empire redefined the threat of terrorism for the 21st century. With the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, Bin Laden was elevated to the realm of evil in the American imagination once reserved for dictators like Hitler and Stalin. He was a new national enemy, his face on wanted posters. He gloated on videot...

Students Celebrate Bin Laden News

College students' reactions to Osama bin Laden's killing were shaped by their views of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Osama bin Laden Was the Most Wanted Face of Terrorism

With the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden was elevated to the realm of evil in the American imagination once reserved for dictators like Hitler and Stalin.

The Persistence of Conspiracy Theories

The endless debate over Obama's birth certificate and the paranoid style in American politics.

Trump Plans Meeting on Arizona Birth Bill

Donald Trump, a skeptic about President Obama's place of birth, wants to know more about a bill that would require presidents to prove they are natural-born citizens.

Gains, and Drawbacks, For Female Professors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- When the Massachusetts Institute of Technology acknowledged 12 years ago that it had discriminated against female professors in ''subtle but pervasive'' ways, it became a national model for addressing gender inequity. Now, an evaluation of those efforts shows substantial progress -- and unintended consequences. Among other concerns, many female professors say that M.I.T.'s aggressive push to hire more women has created the sense that they are given an unfair advantage. Those...

At M.I.T., Success Comes With Unexpected Consequences

Twelve years after M.I.T. sought to end discrimination against female faculty members, a study shows progress has come with a new perception — a belief that women are given an unfair advantage.