Periscope: The Dutch Have Become More Conservative. Is Europe Next?

Get Us Outta this Place!
When Callie LeFevre's study-abroad trip to Beirut last summer was cut short by Israeli fighter planes dropping bombs near her campus, the Princeton University junior got home via an emergency evacuation through Syria. The tricky logistics were handled by a company called International SOS, which now works with more than 120 colleges and universities. It's one of a growing group of firms that specialize in extricating student travelers from dangerous situations. The number of U.S. students studying abroad is expected to rise from 206,000 last year to 1 million annually within a decade and many are headed to places where conflict, natural disaster and political strife are common. Faced with balancing students' desires for adventure with their high expectations for safety, schools are increasingly turning to these private security and medical providers to protect students living in risky places abroad. Most colleges foot the bills, which start at about a dollar per day.
—Roxana Popescu

Stax Comes Back
Back in the day, Stax Records was the South's answer to Motown. The Memphis soul label's artists—a roster that included Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes—were less polished than their Detroit counterparts, but they introduced fans worldwide to an authentic slice of African-American culture. Now, 40 years after its touring revues spawned best-selling concert records like "Otis Live in Europe" and 30 years after it went belly up, Stax is alive again. Concord Records has resurrected the label with its first new release in decades, Angie Stone's "The Art of Love and War." Hayes, meanwhile, plans to release his first Stax album in ages next spring. "It sure feels good," he told NEWSWEEK. Stax's resurrection from the dead is a remarkable recovery, considering the label's dilapidated studio was reduced to a pile of rubble in 1989. A Stax museum stands there now. Where will the storied label go from here? Isaac Hayes has the answer: "Up, man. Up."
—Lorraine Ali

Reality Check
A gym-sculpted chest is the physical ideal which most men aspire to, but gynecomastia—enlarged breasts—is increasingly what they have instead. Nearly half of all men experience it during their lives, and breast reduction is the fifth most common surgical procedure among men in the United States. Hormonal fluctuations, heredity and disease are all causes of the condition, but the biggest culprit is weight gain. Given that 75 percent of Americans are forecast to be overweight by 2015, look for many men to reconsider their reflexive fondness for breasts.
—Jessica Bennett

© 2007