Departments Archives - Page 14 of 17

Dossier: Bordering On Ludicrous

by The American Staff September 18, 2005

In August, Governors Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Janet Napolitano of Arizona declared states of emergency due to illegal immigration across their borders … The declarations allow the governors to spend nearly $1.5 million each to bolster the states’ law enforcement and border patrols … In 2004, 537,151 people were naturalized to the United […]

Departments

Dossier: Back to School

by The American Staff August 14, 2005

The percentage of schools that during the 2002–03 school year flunked the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act were 5 percent in Alabama, 14 percent in Wyoming, 40 percent in Illinois, and 76 percent in Florida … 99 percent of California schools are projected to fail proficiency tests […]

Departments

Dossier: To Arms, To Arms

by The American Staff July 18, 2005

Global military expenditures topped $950 billion in 2003 … Arms transfers accounted for $25.6 billion of this ﬁgure … 60 percent of all arms sales from 2000–03 were made to developing nations … The ﬁve permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) are the […]

Departments

Dossier: The Stem-Cell Gap

by The American Staff June 19, 2005

Embryonic stem-cell research may produce a renewable source of tissue transplants and lead to cures for diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson’s … Embryonic stem cells are derived from 4- to 5-day-old blastocysts, clusters of about 150 cells that measure no more than two-tenths of a millimeter … On August 9, 2001, George W. Bush […]

Departments

Dossier: The Stem-Cell Gap

by The American Staff June 19, 2005

Departments

Dossier: Black Gold, Texas Tea

by The American Staff May 22, 2005

In early May, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.18 … A year ago, it was $1.89 … Also in May, a barrel of light crude oil was quoted at $52 … When that price increase was announced, the stock market promptly fell nearly 30 points … Around that time, Venezuelan […]

Departments

Dossier: The United Nations Works

by The American Staff April 19, 2005

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) shipped 5,612,257 student kits, 201,416 cartons of chalk, and 5,106,885 school bags for primary and intermediate-level schoolchildren in Iraq from the start of the Iraq War in 2003 through November 2004 … Through UNICEF’s “Immunization plus” program, the distribution of high-dose vitamin A capsules has averted at least 1 […]

Departments

Dossier: You Pay, They Play

by The American Staff March 21, 2005

The top 1 percent of U.S. households received an average income-tax cut of approximately $40,990 in 2004, boosting their after-tax income by 5.3 percent … The middle 20 percent of households received an average tax cut of $980, boosting their after-tax income by 2 percent … Including corporate tax cuts, the top 1 percent of […]

Departments

Dossier: Air, Land, and Sea

by The American Staff February 21, 2005

Chlorine plants release an estimated 100 tons of mercury a year in the United States … The Centers for Disease Control has found that 8 percent of women of childbearing age have levels of mercury in their blood that could endanger their offspring … In 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) eliminated a 28-year requirement […]

Departments

Dossier: Loose Nukes

by The American Staff January 14, 2005

Russia’s estimated stockpile includes 18,000 assembled nuclear warheads at some 150 to 210 sites … Additionally, it retains an estimated 603 metric tons of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and 170 metric tons of separated plutonium … A working nuclear bomb requires at least 16 kilograms of uranium or 4 kilograms of plutonium … Only 3 […]