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Discusses the nine months between June, 2002 and March, 2003 during which kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart was held captive. Their travels across the United States during this period; Clothing and disguises worn by Smart and her kidnappers Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee; Their relationship; Mitchell's belief that he is the recipient of religious revelation; Description of the kidnapping; Possibility that she was brainwashed during captivity; Her reunion with family. INSET: STOPS ON A NINE-MONTH ORDEAL.

Profiles Sherron Watkins ex-vice president and whistle-blower of Enron Inc. Her employment history with Enron; Her faithfulness to the company; Details of her testimonial to Congress against several of Enron's top executives; Personality traits.

Examines U.S. school cafeterias and questions the foods preparation and nutritional value. Rise in large-scale outbreaks of food poisonings from school meals; Long-term health hazards to children's health; Continued rise in obesity among teenagers; Unclean cooking conditions; Why fast food equals fast money for schools; Improving the cafeteria dining experience. INSET: THE HEALTHY MEAL VS. THE HAPPY MEAL.

Reports on efforts by police in the Washington D.C. area to catch a serial sniper. Description of the first shot fired by the sniper at a Michaels craft store in Aspen Hill, Maryland; Randomness of the crimes; Number of officials who work on the case, including from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms units; Use of software by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to create animated displays that reconstruct the crime scenes; Community reactions; Description of the crimes; Geographic profiling. INSETS: HUMAN TARGETS;SUSPECT VEHICLE.

Focuses on 12-year-old Hilary Strauch of Avon-by-the-Sea, New Jersey, whose father George died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. How she saw her father's office building collapse on television; Ways that she has dealt with her grief; Comments of Strauch and her mother Ginny; Biographical details; Her experience attending a grief camp for 9/11 victims; Overview of the past year; Strauch's conflict about her public role; Changes in routines.

Discusses the issue of increased alcohol abuse among college-aged women in the United States. Efforts of women to drink as much as, or more than, their male peers; Study in the 'Journal of American College Health,' showing that heavy drinking is surging even at all-women colleges; Increase in frequent binge drinking; Why women get drunk faster than men; The uneasy relationship between alcohol drinking and the freedom of women.

Focuses on firefighter Mike Kehoe, who was photographed while inside the World Trade Center prior to its collapse. Popularity of Kehoe after the photograph was printed in the 'Daily News'; How he was seen as a hero because of the photo; His account of September 11, 2001; Way that Kehoe has dealt with life after the attacks.

Focuses on Thanksgiving celebrations in the United States and how they will be impacted by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. How the attacks have changed peoples views; Expectation that family gatherings will remember those who lost family members in the attacks; Interactions between family members who have had different levels of contact with the attacks; Efforts of single people to start relationships; Religious revival in the country.

Discusses home schooling in the United States. Reasons that parents choose to teach their children at home rather than send them to public schools; Statistics from a federal government report on home schools; Strength and outlook for the home school movement; Cooperation between public schools and home schools in educating students; Topic of unschooling; Examples of families that use home schooling methods and how they developed their curricula. INSET: SO YOU WANT TO BE A HOME SCHOOLER....

Discusses the importance of parental involvement in education and how many parents avoid that responsibility. Schools which are trying to lure parents into participating in their children's education; Parental involvement which is one of the strongest predictors of a child's academic success; What schools can do to encourage parental involvement. INSET: Overdoing It?, by Rebecca Winters and Wendy Cole.

Discusses the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) used in the United States to anticipate a student's ability to succeed academically. Criticism of the standardized test; Trend of colleges such as the University of California to make SAT scores an optional part of the application process; History of the SAT test; Discussion of alternatives to the educational measure; Examples of scores earned by celebrities such as author Stephen King and Senator Paul Wellstone. INSET: Making Another Big Score, by Andrew Goldstein et al.

Assesses the admissions process of three colleges in the United States. Discussion of the schools Rice University, Bowdoin College and Cornell University and their admission policies; Suggestion that a student needs to make himself/herself look well rounded; Thought that the essay counts only in hard decisions; Discussion of various myths that college-bound students have towards admission to college.

Focuses on educational measurement and standardized testing in the United States. Details of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test; Statistics on test scores; Strategies used for getting higher scores on the test; Criticism of TAAS; What educators in other states are doing to hold students and schools accountable. INSETS: No SAT Scores Required, by Andrew Goldstein and Ann Blackman;In Defense of Testing, by Diane Ravitch.

Discusses efforts in the United States to shorten the three-month summer hiatus for school children as part of the effort to obtain higher academic standards. Demand for more class time and an end to the 180-day school year; Examples of schools that have increased the number of days in the school year; Opponents to a longer school year; How a changed calendar affects parents, educators, and others. INSET: All Schoolwork but No Homework.

Reports on outspoken protests around the United States against standardized testing in schools. Description of the tests which are used to determine not only whether students get diplomas, but also funding for public schools; How students and teachers are protesting the tests by walking out during exams; Problem of teacher-assisted cheating on the tests to boost scores for schools. INSETS: The Outsiders Take Over;Dumb Questions for Bright Kids?, by Dan Cray.

Discusses a computer threat-assessment program called Mosaic-2000 being used in the United States to prevent school violence. How the Mosaic software is being tested in public schools; Traits of children who have been identified at risk of committing violence; Controversy over the Mosaic-2000 program; Concern of civil libertarians. INSETS: THE PERCEPTION GAP;MOMS FOR GUN CONTROL, by Amy Dickinson;READY AND WAITING, by Andrew Goldstein.

Offers information on the events of a Tuesday in 1999 at Webster Groves High School in Saint Louis, Missouri. Class descriptions, including auto shop, United States studies and senior seminar; Details of a pep rally celebrating a winning football season and faculty meeting; Examples of the activities of students.

Offers information on a Wednesday in 1999 at Webster Groves High School in Saint Louis, Missouri. Race and class at the school with voluntary transfer students; Mental health of the students; Religious activities of students.

Describes the last day of John F. Kennedy Jr.'s life and the circumstances of the July 16, 1999 crash of his Piper Saratoga II HP off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts that took his life and those of his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette. Discussion and business at the offices of his periodical, `George'; The trip from New York City to the airport in New Jersey; Weather conditions and departure; Details of the flight and factors that could have contributed to the accident.

Questions the long-term consequences for clinically depressed children taking antidepressant medication. Estimated number of prescriptions written for children and teenagers in the United States each year; Depression as a marker for other disorders; Lack of research about the effects of antidepressant drugs on childhood development. INSET: How to Spot a Depressed Child.

Recounts the affair of United States President Bill Clinton with Monica Lewinsky. Details of the grand jury report from Kenneth Starr; Role of Clinton's secretary, Betty Currie; Relevance of the lawsuit of Paula Jones; Role of Vernon Jordan in finding a job for Lewinsky; Clinton's gifts to Lewinsky; Allegations against Clinton of obstruction of justice; Lewinsky's affidavit denying a relationship; Response of voters to Clinton's behavior; More. INSET: Enough to impeach?.

Reports on education reform in the United States. Decision of the Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of a school-voucher program in Cleveland, Ohio, that uses taxpayer money to pay for private and parochial schools; Affirmation of Chief Justice William Rehnquist that the vouchers are entirely neutral with respect to religion; Obstacles facing voucher reform, including the question of whether they boost student achievement.

Suggests that minority children may be unfairly singled out for discipline in U.S. schools. Example of Kenneth Russell, a black high school student in Modesto, California who was expelled from school after starting a fight; Complaint filed by Russell's parents with the U.S. Department of Education; Efforts of civil rights groups to fight what they perceive as racial profiling in school discipline; Data about race and school discipline; Ambiguity surrounding the issue.

Focuses on Nicole Reda, who lost her husband Greg in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. How she has picked up some of his habits in an effort to remember him; Her friendship with Greg's best friend and co-worker at the World Trade Center in New York City, Michael Cantatore; Her life as a single mother.

Focuses on the quality of charter schools in the United States. Competition of charter schools for market share by advertising; Number of students who attend charter schools in the U.S. and Arizona, the state which has the largest number of charter schools; Problems faced by charter schools; Examples of successful charter schools.

Focuses on so-called K-16 partnerships, in which colleges work to improve elementary and secondary schools. Mention of Maryland's Rosemont Elementary School, which is managed by Coppin State College; Effects of the involvement of colleges on student performance; How colleges are helping neighborhood schools by designing curricula and training teachers. INSET: Build It Yourself, by Andrew Goldstein and Jacqueline Savaiano.

Questions what United States schools can do to prevent violence such as the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Increase in multiple-victim, video-game-like rampages; Various approaches to dealing with students at Trumbull High School in Trumbull, Connecticut, and other schools around the nation; Limitations of placing teachers in hallways and putting troubled kids together; The underlying causes of violence; Need for programs that help bullies deal with frustration. INSET: Where Were the Parents?, by Amy Dickinson.

Focuses on the plans of educator William Bennett and educational-software executive Ron Packard of launching an online school in the United States. Decision to open educational doors to students in developing countries; Creation of democratic and diverse learning communities; Advantages of online communication for parent-child relationship.

Focuses on the status of migrant workers and children in the United States. Information on the dropouts rates of migrant students; Acquisition of english and math skills by migrant children; Description of migrant students.

Examines online education in the United States. Recollection of the student years of the author; Experience with online classes; Appeal of online learning to students; Increase of investors' interests in the development of online schools.

Reports that Howell Raines, editor of the 'New York Times,' and Gerald Boyd, managing editor of the newspaper, resigned in June 2003 after a season of scandal. Details of Raines' hard-driving management style; Discussion of the fraud allegedly committed by reporter Jayson Blair and Pulitzer prize-winning feature writer Rick Bragg, and how it was handled by Raines; Naming of Joseph Lelyveld by publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. to succeed Raines.

Discusses Jayson Blair, a reporter at the New York Times for five years, who is accused of stealing and making up stories. Popularity of Blair among co-workers; Allegations from 'Express-News' in San Antonio, Texas that Blair stole a story written by Macarena Hernandez; Effects of the allegations on the New York Times.

Offers a look at the rescue of prisoner of war Army Private First Class Jessica Lynch during the Iraqi War, 2003. Biographical information; Her capture on the road into Baghdad, Iraq; Her transfer to Saddam Hospital in Nasiriyah; Mission drawn up by a planning team at U.S. Central Command; Role of the Navy SEALs in the rescue; Other war casualties.

Reports on the activities of pro-choice groups to engage the post-Roe v. Wade generation in protecting a woman's right to legal abortion. Statistics showing that as a group the generation tends to be conservative on the issue and approve placing some restrictions on abortion; Efforts of the Planned Parenthood organization and others.

Focuses on the Worth the Wait sex-education program taught in Texas that was written by Dr. Patricia Sulak. Indication that the lessons show the clinical consequences of teen sex in pictures and statistics charting the numbers of youth infected with sexually transmitted diseases; Idea that it has the message to abstain from intercourse or put oneself at serious medical risk; Controversy over sex education in the United States; Question of whether the abstinence movement is effective.

Discusses the relationship between Olympic skaters Jamie Salé and David Pelletier of Canada. Details on how the two forged a successful partnership; Controversy surrounding their 2001 World Championship victory over Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia; Rumors of romance between the couple.

Reports on the popularity of test-preparation services in United States schools. Dominance of test-prep companies Kaplan and The Princeton Review, and tutoring powerhouse Sylvan Learning Centers; Expectation that demand for these services will further increase following a law signed by U.S. President George W. Bush that requires annual testing in reading and math in Grades three through eight by 2005; Desperation of many schools to improve test scores; Criticisms.

Focuses on Linda Rottenberg and her nonprofit organization, Endeavor. Why she turned down a grant from the government of Chile; How she and Peter Kellner co-founded Endeavor to nurture entrepreneurs in emerging Latin American markets; Career background.

Discusses the antiwar movement in the United States, in light of the outlook for a war by the U.S. against the Taliban Movement and terrorism. History of the antiwar movement; Difficulty of peace activists to condemn all aspects of war; Comparison of antiwar efforts of 2001 to those made during the Vietnam conflict.

Focuses on the methods used by teachers in the New York City area to address their pupils regarding the terrorist attacks against the United States. How teachers discussed topics such as death and hijacking to students; Admonition of students to display emotions.

Reports how Dr. Larry Hawk, whose sister Kathy Nicosia was a flight attendant aboard American Airlines Flight 11, rescued stranded pets in New York City following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. His role as president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; His mobilization of veterinarians, police, and pet psychologists to escort pet owners to their apartments; How he protected police dogs sifting through the rubble.