March/April 2002 Cover The World According to Ashcroft by David Corn
He’s suspended liberties and accused critics of aiding the enemy. For John Ashcroft, that just the beginning.

FEATURES

The Clean Room’s Dirty Secret by Susan Stranahan
The semiconductor industry prides itself on its high-tech “clean rooms.” But as a growing number of workers are finding out, the state-of-the-art protections are meant to safeguard microchips, not humans.

Fostering Hope by Rob Gurwitt
Foster kids rarely get the chance to grow roots in a community. But in an Illinois neighborhood known as Hope Meadows, they are finding loving families, supportive social services, and an irreplaceable network of “grandparents.”

Star-Spangled Lobbyists by Bill Hogan
Rushing to enlist in the war on terrorism, corporate lobbyists are doing their patriotic duty by seeking federal handouts for everything from bison meat to chauffeured limousines.

Street Corner, Incorporated by Christopher D. Cook
Providing workers to do the dirtiest, riskiest jobs has become a big business. One corporation has cornered the market and is squeezing millions from its day-labor temps.

All Consuming Patriotism by Ian Frazier
American Flag: $19.95. New Yacht: $75,000. True Patriotism? Priceless.

DEPARTMENTS

Backtalk
Readers sound off on “soft anti-Americans”, rethinking junior ROTC, bygone intelligence, and more.

Outfront
Don’t Leave College Without It: Universities are cutting big-dollar deals with credit card companies, and students are paying the price.
A Broken Trust: The government cannot account for billions of dollars it owes to Native Americans.
The 300-Million-Gallon Warning: Are the nation’s abandoned coal-slurry ponds environmental disasters waiting to happen?
Hellraiser: The Journalist and the Dictator

Exhibit
Cool, refreshing nicotine; Colin Powell is a card; plastic stereotypes.

Power Plays by Molly Ivins
Goodbye to Phil Gramm and Dick Armey, the last of a bitter breed of Texas politician.

The Commonsby Sue Halpern
The teenage mechanics at a Boston bike shop build a cycle of hope.

Exposure
An uneasy peace (train) in Kosovo.

Dispatch by Gordon Laird
Nunavut, Canada — where global warming isn’t just a theory.

Media Jones
Race and reparation in Tulsa; poet laureate Billy Collins on the power of ambiguity; plus book, music, and film reviews.

Re: Action
Resources for getting involved.

P.S.
Cartoon by Victoria Roberts.