Word: backgrounder
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...Irish citizen going to school in America. While I wasn’t ashamed of this, the truth is that aside from being born in Ireland and holding an Irish passport, I’ve spent the majority of my life in America. So why be deceptive about my background? Europeans seem to hold a lot of stereotypes about Americans; saying I’m from Dublin rather than Pittsburgh is like saying I’m from Boston rather than Harvard. The difference, of course, is that by saying you’re from Harvard people might resent...
There he is, in the background of paintings, schoolbook illustrations, celebratory films. He's hauling a boat, cradling a rifle, looking on. He is often bare-chested. No one is speaking to him. Frankly, his presence is a little embarrassing. He is York, William Clark's body servant--slavery's version of a valet...
...Cabe and others have found that the typical fireman arsonist is a white male between 17 and 26, generally with a spotty work record and an unstable home life. The wobbly ego and need for attention that can accompany such a background may make the heroism of the fire department irresistible. For some, simply joining the volunteer corps and waiting for a blaze is not enough. The temptation is to light the fire and then bask in the recognition that comes from being the first to sound the alarm. "There's a need to be the hero," says George Miller...
...personalities may be easy. Most municipal fire departments require career candidates to submit to psychological screening. But since it is the volunteers - often in rural areas - who commit the most arson, plenty of dangerous characters still slip by. Two years ago, South Carolina passed a law requiring registration and background checks of professional and volunteer firefighters. Delaware already requires screening for ambulance drivers and a similar rule for firefighters is likely to follow. This week, delegates from 25 states will gather in New York City for the annual meeting of the NASFM, during which the topic of screening is expected...
...ticket counters and gates, where random checks are combined with special searches of passengers singled out by computer. The criteria for targeting these passengers, kept secret for security reasons, include such things as buying a one-way ticket and paying with cash. Although profiling by race or ethnic background is officially rejected, it is clear that, informally at least, some profiling is being done. One afternoon at Denver, a German couple about to board a flight to Las Vegas were fuming over having their bags searched for the second time in 20 minutes. "If we treated Americans traveling in Germany...