Vol. 157 No. 10
NATION
Bush's pitch is sunny, but his plan is coolly austere. Do his budget numbers add up?
When Tax Cuts Hit Texas (Beyond The Beltway)
How Many Ways Can You Spend $1 Trillion?
The Obstacle Course
How do you lead a party past a former President who just can't seem to get out of the way?
The Democrats' New Golden Boy (Prepping For Prime Time)
WORLD
A Navy captain speaks of his shock and remorse in the aftermath of his sub's fatal collision off Hawaii
Hebron: A Look Inside
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Message
Zhou Mingwei is toting a slick line on Taiwan. Taipei still feels a gun at its head
SCIENCE
Don't bet on it, but his EPA chief is talking tough about fighting pollution--and even climate change
HEALTH & MEDICINE
Delays reach crisis levels in some cities as women wait up to five months for a routine screening
What Digital Can Do (Medicine / New Technology)
NOTEBOOK
Waiting for the Second Geological Shoe to Drop (The Other Big One)
A First Family. Redefined
Miss Get-Me-the-Hell-Out-of-Here
Milestones (Milestones)
Downhill Racers
FBI
Louis Freeh Goes to the Hill and Gets a Free Ride
Numbers (Numbers)
Over & Under
News Quiz
Bottom O' The Barrel
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
An old man dying and a little girl kissing his hand
Three's a Crowd in Love and Politics
An ex-friend and an ex-lover challenge the eastern African nation's strongman
BUSINESS
Baited by Microsoft, Thomas Penfield Jackson took his case to the press. Does this mean he will lose it?
A Safety Fight at the FAA
Airlines are furious over an audit they say the agency has bungled
EDUCATION
A growing number of colleges are spurning a test that has measured and mortified Americans for 75 years. But what are the alternatives?
Making Another Big Score (Special Report)
Flying Without The Test (Special Report)
MOUNT HOLYOKE has made the SAT optional. An inside look at how the experiment is working
Here Comes the Lego Test (Special Report)
What Do These Two Men Have In Common? (Special Report)
One wants to junk a test; the other wants to impose many. But they agree on what a test should measure
Why Dropping the SAT is Bad for Blacks (Special Report)
Until we start acing the test, we can't say we're equal
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Facing a slump in the sitcom genre, some producers are taking new series off the beaten laugh track
True Visions of False Realities (The Arts / Cinema)
Two clever new films offer fresh insight into our fascination with tabloid journalism and voyeur TV
The Ace Of Spies (The Arts / Books)
Alan Furst's WW II thrillers are fueled by his own rage against evil
A Game of Rat And Louse (The Arts / Books)
Muriel Spark transforms a real unsolved mystery into a devilishly good novel
David Hasselhoff (The Arts / Q&A)
The Mexican (The Arts / Short Takes)
Directed by Gore Verbinski
From the Water's Edge (The Arts / Books)
River Town charts the ebb and flow of everyday life in a small city on the banks of the Yangtze
A Primate's Memoir (The Arts / Short Takes)
By Robert M. Sapolsky
Standards (The Arts / Short Takes)
Tortoise
Kenneth Josephson: A Retrospective (The Arts / Short Takes)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City
Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her (The Arts / Short Takes)
Showtime, March 11, 8 p.m. E.T.
YOUR TIME
As in bear market, and people under 50 are getting their first taste of one that doesn't end fast
PDAs on a Diet (Personal Time / Your Technology)
Want an organizer that won't weigh you down? Here's how to tell the gems from the junk
Do It Yourself? (Personal Time / Your Health)
Those easy-to-use home medical tests can be anything but. Some are downright misleading
Your Health (Personal Time / Your Health)
In Brief (Personal Time / Your Money)
In Brief (Personal Time / Your Technology)
SPECIAL SECTION
Ballroom dancing--the waltz, the merengue, swing--is not only O.K., it's downright hot with kids
Radical Aardvark (Time Bonus / Families)
Rocker David Weinstone is music to the ears of toddlers and their grateful parents
Kid Vid Comes Of Age (Time Bonus / Families)
Whether it's real to reel or Bach for babies, a new wave of children's videos offers kids and parents some healthy choices
One Labor-Intensive Job (Time Bonus / Families)
Doulas catch on as a way to help families have better births and easier transitions to parenthood
E-Gad! It's E-mail! (Time Bonus / Families)
Like bug juice, short-sheeting, campfires and s'mores, e-mail is fast becoming a staple of the summer-camp experience
Virtual Visitations (Time Bonus / Families)
A Florida judge finds an innovative way to keep a parent and child who are separated by divorce in touch through teleconferencing
More Than Band-Aids (Time Bonus / Families)
School nurses are tackling new responsibilities as they care for a growing number of children with chronic diseases and disabilities
Mommy Tract (Time Bonus / Families)
Motherhood has once again set feminist journalists at odds