If you can't find an issue topic that interests you below, consider doing one of the following:

1. Go to the The New York Times online opinion page and find an issue of interest. Remember you need to register to use the site, but it is free.
2. Go to Lexis-Nexis at the John Jay College Library website. You can access all New York Times articles from there. Ask any reference librarian (second floor of the library in the "T" building) for assistance.

Education Issues Articles
*'Rising Above the Gathering Storm'

Older Education Articles:
School Vouchers: A Small Tool for a Very Big Problem Aug. 5, 2002 - by Brent Staples - Can Brown v. Board of Education be equated with the Cleveland school board voucher program?
The College Dropout Boom By David Leonhardt- May 24, 2005
No Degree, and No Way Back to the Middle By Tom Egan May 24, 2005
New State Fund Will Aid Private Colleges, Including the Wealthiest By Patrick D. Healy
Going to College, 10 Years Early, Just to See That It Can Be Done By Peter Applebome
The Schools Under Bloomberg: Much Tumult, Mixed Progress By David M. Herszenhorn
They're All In (Educating teens about gambling) By Patrick Healy
'What, Me Worry?' By Thomas Friedman - Apr. 29, 2005
Tax Cut Casualities By BOB HERBERT - 6/26/03 Increased tuition at CUNY coincides with Bush tax cuts.
Preaching the Gospel of Academic Excellence--expectation of mediocrity has become the order of the day for minority students, and students respond accordingly
.My Favorite Teacher
Confined In Prisons, Literature Breaks Out
StudentsWon't Debate? Turn Off the TV!
Keep College Open to the Poor - TAP awards under threat
Tuition, Out of State and Beyond - new rules raise CUNY tuition for illegal immigrants
Test Question- No Simple Answer -- letters to the editor and editorial
Teaching Youth 'Abstinence Only'
Next, an Education Revolution?
Fewer Students, Greater Gains By BOB HERBERT - Mar. 2001
Calls for Change in the Scheduling of the School Day
Why Grade Inflation Is Serious Dec. 9, 2001

Debate? Dissent? Discussion? Oh, Don't Go There! -- Do college students express their opinions? See also --
Revamped SEEK Remains Path for Poor Into CUNY
A Student Is Not an Input - What are the implications of thinking of a college or university as a brand?
Disappearing Ink - Free class notes for college students

Teaching Evolution Articles:
Mysteries of the Genes - editorial
Kansas Puts Evolution Back Into Public Schools - Feb. 15, 2001 - The Kansas State Board of Education reinstated teaching evolution

Columbine Shootings Articles:
2 Gunmen at Colorado School ...
Alma Maters: Two Words Behind the Massacre - Columbine High School

Women's Issues Articles
*Women's Place, Revisited
A Man's Right to Choose.

A Critic Takes on the Logic of Femal Orgasm - By DINITIA SMITH, May 17, 2005
A Woman's Place - N. Kristof -- Should women be in the U.S. military?
Saudis in Bikinis --NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF If most Saudi women want to wear a tent, if they don't want to drive, then that's fine. But why not give them the choice?
Women's Rights: Why Not?-- By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF - examples of inequalities in third world.
Boys and Girls, Learning as Equals article and letter to editor - on single sex schools
Devastated Women -- Pres. Bush stops aid to help poor women
Liberating the Women of Afghanistan--an important thing we can do for freedom and democracy is support the women of Afghanistan.

Hunks and Brutes -By MAUREEN DOWD - If the United States can bomb a path to victory for the Northern Alliance, we can lay down some terms for what women can attain in the new Afghanistan.
Muslim Women as Symbols and Pawns - Envisioning a real peace, with women as key stakeholders in Afghanistan, requires looking beyond symbols.

Iran and Nuclear Energy Articles
*Iran and the Bomb
*Next Steps on Iran

Death Penalty Articles
*A Chance Reprieve, and Another Chance at Life

Getting Away With... Bob Herbert- Darryl Hunt case
110 Wrongful Convictions and Counting - Aug. 27, 2002
Texas Executes a Foreigner - Aug. 17, 2002
The Courts Get it Right -- June 21, 2002 - Supreme Court reverses its decision -- mentally retarded cannot be executed.
The Death of Innocents -- July 2, 2002 - Federal District judge in Manhattan rules death penalty un-Constitutional.
GRANTING CLEMENCY  -
Dead Wrong -
A State Votes to End Its Death Penalty
Bush Candidacy Puts Focus on Executions
The Changing Debate Over the Death Penalty -- Our high courts' decisions are based on public opinion as much as precedent.
A Chance Reprieve, and Another Chance at Life by Joan M. Cheever - June 29, 2002
Who Gets the Death Penalty? By BOB HERBERT We're very selective with the death penalty. Only certain types qualify. Which stands the whole idea of equity and justice on its head.
The Fatal Flaws By BOB HERBERT A new study by a team of lawyers and criminologists at Columbia University describes the capital punishment system as "broken."
Cruel and Unusual--Difficulties arise when those subject to the death penalty are mentally retarded.
Witnesses to an Execution Att. Gen. John Ashcroft announced that Timothy McVeigh's execution would be televised via a closed-circuit telecast.

Death Row Survivor ... condemned men is released from death row after the introduction of evidence exonerating him of murder.
Deciding Who Will Live By BOB HERBERT
What if You're Not Guilty? --If not for the efforts of a high-powered corporate lawyer, Don Paradis would be dead.
Sorry' Isn't Enough -- The two Brooklyn men freed after 14 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction underscore a national trend in which authorities manage to nail the wrong men.
The Confession --Most Americans do not believe the criminal justice system functions so ludicrously. But it does. Frequently.
Capital Punishment in the United States: A Forum on Death-Penalty Issues a free online forum for an in-depth discussion of the death penalty issues -- two hours

Family Life
*Family Values on Fox
*Fixing Children's Services

Ways to Improve Family Court -- letter to editor & article "Handling sinners and victims of domestic hell."
A Daily Disaster for Children - lawyers that represent most people in New York City's Family Court have provoked an acute emergency by striking.
Success Story for Children, but the Ending is Uncertain By NINA BERNSTEIN 
Family Court Lawyers - Letters to the editor response to "Success Story for Children, but the Ending is Uncertain"
Facing Up to New York's Court Crisis- Pataki and legislative leaders can no longer ignore the dwindling number of attorneys willing to work for the low rates the state pays for representing poor people in New York City's courts.

The Mask Comes Off - Mar. 26, 2001 - President Bush's planned proposal to cut funding for programs that help abused and neglected kids is indefensible and unconscionable.

Privacy Rights
*Fishing in Cyberspace

Children Soldiers Articles
At 14, a Liberian War Veteran Dreams of Finding a Way Home - Aug. 25, 2003 [long]

General Science Articles:
Life at the top in America Isn't Juat Better, It's Longer -- Janny Scott, May 16, 2005
Capturing the Light -- Physicists have succeeded in slowing light down to a crawl, and finally a dead stop. It is an admirable accomplishment, but it also gives the feeling that something grand has been lost.

Stem Cell Research & Cloning Articles:
Stem Cell Side Shows
How One Clone Leads to Another by Leon Kass 1/24/03
Fearing the Worst Should Anyone Produce a Cloned Baby 01/05/03 By PHILIP M. BOFFEY
All Clones are not the Same 1/02/03 By Gregory E. Kaebnick
Anti-Cloning Conundrum - May 28, 2002 By Michael J. Sandel
A Dog's Life -- Is it right to clone a dying pet?
Pro-life Case for Cloning - May 2, 2002
The Embryo Taboos --July 15, 2001 - Whatever one thinks of the ethics of creating embryos solely for research, there is good reason to support work on surplus embryos at fertility clinics that would otherwise be destroyed.
Stem Cells and Delicate Questions -- July 18, 2001 - articles and letters

Free Speech articles:
Cross Burning and Free Speech - Feb. 15, 2002

Why Are We Hiding bin Laden? Nov. 11, 2001 By Robert H. Giles - American citizens have been missing important information about the person with whom our government is at war.

Rap controversy articles:
A Musical Betrayal-- By BOB HERBERT - Eminem criticized
Hearing the Voices of Hip-Hop - Feb 9, 2001 By Kelefa Sanneh - a pro POV of Eminem's language.
Putting Us to the Test - Jan. 3, 2002 - By N. Kristof - A university, even a country, becomes sterile when people are too intimidated to say things out of the mainstream.

Hate Law Articles:
Hate, American Style-Aug. 30, 2002 - By N.KRISTOF The Rev. Matt Hale, America's scariest hatemonger, would probably be flattered to hear his "church" referred to as America's Al Qaeda.
What's So Bad About Hate.
Hate Laws Don't Matter, Except When They Do.

Affirmative Action Articles:
Affirmative Action: The Sequel 6/22/03 - By Orlando Patterson
A Boy and His Benefits 1/24/03 By N. Kristof

Sex Education Articles:
Don't Just Say No --June 26, 2002 - Conservatives in Congress are recklessly wrong when they insist that sex education programs in the schools should teach abstinence only.
Teaching Youth 'Abstinence Only' - Letters to editor Jan. 2, 2001

Bilingual Education Articles:
Repairing Bilingual Education
Can Bilingual Education Be Saved? Dec. 25, 2001 Letters to editor responding to "Repairing Bilingual Education"
Refashioning Bilingual Education--Overhaul of the New York City school system's bilingual education program
Bilingual Education Lives On--NYC's Board of Education bilingual education program, a disastrously failed policy.  

AIDS Articles:
A Simple Way to Fight H.I.V. and AIDS - Apr. 29, 2005
Betraying the Sick in Africa 9/4/03 Pres. Bush does not fund his promise to fight AIDS in African countries.
AIDS Is Not a Death Sentence Dec. 1. 2002 - By WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON Many millions go to AIDS education, but we can and must do more to treat people who already have the disease.
Bush and Aids - President Bush took an action that will increase the spread of AIDS by denying U.S. aid to family-planning organizations abroad.
State of Denial - danger of AIDS/HIV in poor neighborhoods
A Black AIDS Epidemic -- By BOB HERBERT - July 4, 2001 - The warning sirens are wailing, but young black men who are gay don't seem to be listening. And so the march into self-destruction continues.
Refusing to Save Africans --July 11, 2001 - Andrew Natsios, a key Bush aide, says that attempting to get anti-AIDS drugs to Africans any time soon would not be worth the effort.
AIDS and Death Hold No Sting for Fatalistic Men at African Bar Nov. 29, 2001 [feature article - long]

The Search for an AIDS Vaccine - Governments and foundations must maintain their commitment to the fastest possible development of an AIDS vaccine.
It Takes a Village --When you read the statistics about AIDS infection in Africa, they are so staggering as to seem unbelievable. What to do?  
The Future of an Epidemic --In the 20 years ahead, AIDS can be brought under much better control in the US but it will be devastating in some other parts of the world.
Powell Speaks up on Condom Use - Letter to editor and article

Drug Control in America Articles:
Judges Turn Therapist in Problem-Solving Court By LESLIE EATON and LESLIE KAUFMAN
A War Against Ourselves By ANTHONY LEWIS - April 28, 2001 - To think that we can deal with our drug problem by limiting supply is irrational. The real need is to reduce the craving through treatment of drug abusers.
Medical Marijuana in Court May 25, 2002 - Should marijuana be used for medical purposes?

Sports Articles:
BASEBALL: Steriods drain statistics' clout - BYLINE: ZELL MILLER March 15, 2004
Sports Are a Way of Belonging The PGA has a right to enforce its rules in the manner it thinks best suits the game. But does excluding someone with a permanent disability benefit the game?
The Say Hey Kid By BOB HERBERT - April 23, 2001 - Willie Mays was probably the best baseball player ever. The grandeur that he brought to the game should never be forgotten.

Gun Control Articles:
Lawyers, Guns and Mayors - by M. Bloomberg, RICHARD M. DALEY, JAMES K. HAHN and SCOTT L. KING
Vital Statistics - By BOB HERBERT Despite the terrible toll that guns in the wrong hands are taking, there is tremendous resistance to even the most modest efforts to control the spread of guns among criminals.
Wars of Nerves By FRIEDMAN Pres. Bush wants to impose gun control on Baghdad, but he won't lift a finger to impose gun control six miles from the White House.
'Chicks With Guns' By N. KRISTOF Our desire to defend ourselves from terrorism by buying firearms will mean...that thousands more Americans will die in the years ahead from gunfire.
Laws That Can't Stop a Bullet
A Gun Control Moment
Various NYT articles on Rampage Killers

Florida Presidential Vote Articles:
The Time for Ballot Reform

Bush by 537; Gore by 537,179 -- It's time to abolish the Electoral College.
Study of Disputed Florida Ballots Finds Justices Did Not Cast the Deciding Vote [a news article]
The Florida Vote, and the Echoes [letters to the editor of NYT]
Florida Voting Report [end of 2000 article]
After All the Votes Are Counted [end 2000 article]

Small Pox Vaccination Articles:
Voting for Bush, Voting to Get a Smallpox Shot - 5/19/03
When Parents Say No to Child Vaccinations 11/30/02
Next Step in Smalpox Effort:Drug for Vaccine Side Effects 11/12/02
The Specter of a New and Deadlier Smallpox 10/14/02
A Nation Challeged:Bioterrorism;U.S. Orders Vast Supply of Vaccine for Smallpox 11/29/01
U.S. Acts to Make Vaccines and Drugs Against Smallpox 10/9/01
BIOTERRORISM: Grant Funds Search For Drug Against Smallpox 11/13/01

Missing the Smallpox Goal 5/12/03
Untested Companies Enlist in U.S. Biodefense 3/23/03 news story
Anti-Germ Bill Advances, But a Realted One Stalls 3/20/03 news story
Officials Seek Smallpox Vacinne Fund 3/7/03 news story
Meningococcal Desease: The Basics 2/11/03
Calibrating Smallpox Vaccinations 1/23/03
Ducking Small Pox Vaccinations 12/21/02

Other Political Articles:
Most Presidents Had a Counselor. One Had a Shrink.
To Love, Honor and Run for Higher Office

Life in other cultures Articles:
Language Barrier Called Health Hazard in E.R. By Nina Bernstein
Routine Check On License Can Mean Deportation By Nina Bernstein
'No Greater Tragedy' - By ANTHONY LEWIS - Mar. 24, 2001
The Unfenced Life, Under the Celestial Mountains - An unusual culture in Russia
Stories of slavery in southern Sudan
Osaka Journal: Japanese Date Clubs Take the Muss Out of Mating
Chiang Mai Journal: A Courageous Thai Editor's Lonely Quest - FREEDOM OF PRESS OR BULLETPROOF VESTS?: Crossroads between Rights and Reality in Asia
Best of Friends, Worlds Apart - Joel Ruiz Is Black. Achmed Valdés Is White. In America They Discovered It Matters.
Rio Journal: Too Much English Is Spoken in Brazil, Some Say -- Analyzing the Role of Language in National Identity
Kampala Journal: Rating Beauty With a Tape Measure, Inch by Inch What is the African ideal of feminine beauty?

General Subject Articles:
Lacking $2 Bus Fare to Shelter, Homeless Get a Free Ride, to Jail By Sabrina Tavernise
Morse Code Hams Let Their Fingers Do the Talking 
Hey, What if Contestants Give Each Other Shocks?
The Power in TV Confessions - TV's "Survivors"

Children/Teens Articles:
Youth Court... Teens judging teens? Can it work?
Flotsam Adrift on Ancient Streets: A City's Young
Kids Watch the Darnedest Things - By JAYSON BLAIR [NOTE - check the author] - Selling violence to kids over the mass media
Behind the Wheel and Driving the Nation's Culture-America is obsessed with youth.
Young People Open to H.I.V. Testing
Problems Seen for Teenagers Who Hold Jobs