February 16-19 NYT Blog

Monday, February 16

International or national stories about foreigners have disproportionally interested me so far in my NY Times readings—today, the same thing: I enjoyed the story on Russian car tariffs and New Orleans Hispanic laborers. The reporting is visual, a little exotic, but still newsy, not just human interest. The descriptory passages, especially in the New Orleans laborer story combine with sometimes colloquial and dialectic quotations, that it is less of task to read and more a pleasure, like entertaining fiction.
Sometimes I read the Italian news source Corriera della Sera and find stories about the U.S. that come out much earlier there than here and I wonder if it’s also true that American papers are less inhibited when writing about foreigners. It would be traditional; I’ve always read that historical figures like Dostoevsky and Pasolini had to go to foreign papers to read about Russia or Italy, respectively. That may be another explanation for my bias toward international stories in the Times, though certainly a willingness to write more freely doesn’t necessarily mean the stories are superior in form or content.

Tuesday, February 17

The story on platelet-rich plasma therapy, theoretically used with success recently on a player who might otherwise not have been able to participate in the Super Bowl, grabbed my attention because it seems like such a simple, almost intuitive medical idea.

Wednesday, February 18

The front page story on G.M. and Chrysler cuts in employees, car models, and brand lineups struck me with the detail about which cars will be discontinued, and by the implications of so many jobs cuts, which make me think of historical automotive job cuts that left entire cities that developed around car plants completely ruined.
The story on uninsured young adults sticks in my mind as well, because of the colorful personal stories that illustrate the problem. Apparently, there are a lot of creative ways to try not to get sick/ recover. I would have liked a section explaining whether or not the tactics of young people without health insurance are in any way effective (exercising off a cold?).

Thursday, February 19

I didn’t realize how badly some schools have been hit by the economic crisis. The National page had a great story on historically black colleges in Atlanta that can barely pay the water bills. The picture shows an elegant classical adaptation campus building that makes a sad contrast to the funds behind it now. I liked that there was also a brief on Harvard’s projected 30% loss of endowment and a possible halt to a large construction project in Alston. Even Harvard has to reconsider its priorities, and gets neighborhood complaints over construction ruining the area.