Search results for

Guest host John Ydstie talks with Jeffrey Lehman, dean of the University of Michigan Law School, and Cornell's president-elect, about the affirmative action policies of the law school at Michigan.

A juvenile court judge in Fairfax County, Va., rules that Washington, D.C.-area sniper suspect Lee Malvo, 17, can be tried as an adult for the murder of an FBI analyst. He and another suspect are implicated in 12 other fatal shootings. The ruling makes Malvo eligible for the death penalty. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

The California Supreme Court adopts tougher standards on what constitutes forcible rape, defining it as continued sexual intercourse by a man after his female partner withdraws initial consent. NPR's Richard Gonzales reports.

David D'Arcy reports on this year's Sundance Film Festival, widely regarded as the most prestigious showcase for independent films and documentaries, which opens tonight. One film features a handful of the 40,000 Cubans who left their island on rafts in the 1990s.

Today's transgenic (genetically modified) crops contain have been tinkered with in a relatively simple way. And there is no evidence that they pose any health risk. But scientists are now working on the much more complex modifications needed to enhance the nutritional value of food crop -- by increasing their vitamin content, for example. This could have unpredictable consequences. NPR's Eric Niiler reports.

Quinn Klinefelter of WDET in Detroit reports the head of the National Highway Traffic Administration says automakers must improve the safety of sport utility vehicles or the government may force them to do so. But car companies counter that they are already offering improved safety devices on the popular vehicles.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports the Bush administration is going to court in support of three white university students who say their school uses racial quotas. The White House is accusing the University of Michigan of using quotas in deciding who is admitted. The university says its policy is constitutional, and that race is one of many factors it considers in its selection process. Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress say after the racial remarks made by Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), now is not the time for the administration to challenge the factor of race in admissions.

Guest host John Ydstie talks with Alberto Almeida, who has devised an index to measure fear among residents of nine major cities in Brazil. Almeida is the head of opinion research at Brazil's leading business school, the Fundacao Getulio Vargas, in Rio de Janeiro.

Some Minnesota towns put old schoolhouses up for sale. The price is right, but prospective buyers also need to do their homework on a site development plan.

Autism is a disease that often drives people apart. It separates children from parents, and can leave parents feeling abandoned by researchers who offer no cure and little hope. But the MIND Institute, founded by fathers of autistic sons, is trying to change that by making parents key players in the search for a cure. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports.