Columbia News Service

Columbia News Service was syndicated by The New York Times wire and distributed to newspapers all across the U.S. and Canada. My stories ran in major newspapers, including: Chicago Tribune, The Winston-Salem Journal, The Arizona Daily Star, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Naples Daily News, The Arizona Republic, The Oakland Tribune, The Argus (Fremont, Ca.), Tri-Valley Herald (Pleasanton, Ca.), Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, Pa.), The Chronicle Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia), Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.).

May 03, 2004

The face of politics: Who gets on the money?

NEW YORK – He beat Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale handily at the polls. But when it came to a face-off with FDR, Ronald Reagan lost. Reagan’s fans pushed for legislation last December to replace Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s image on…

May 03, 2004

The maligned mustache now looks a hair dated

NEW YORK – It started as a superstitious stunt, but then things got hairy. Neils Kemper’s favorite German soccer team was on a roll. So as not to jinx the team’s winning streak, he stopped shaving while the lucky run…

April 05, 2004

American College Students Succumb to Hypnotist’s Powers

MIDDLETOWN, Conn – In front of 500 Wesleyan University students, Dan LaRosa stood on a stage with a dozen volunteers from the crowd. One by one, he stroked the volunteers on their shoulders, puts his other hand on their heads,…

March 15, 2004

Moon lots with a nice view of earth: Lunar real estate sales take off

NEW YORK – When Yana Oselkin turned 28 last September, her younger brother bought her an unusual birthday gift. “He got me an acre on the moon, with an earth-facing view,” the Manhattan-based dentist recalled recently. “I thought he was…

March 01, 2004

Cryonics: Bodies in deep freeze in Arizona

NEW YORK – When Mark Mehlestein’s heart stops beating, he will be pronounced dead by a physician. Yet, within moments, a small group of people will take his body and place it in a separate medical facility. They will perform…

February 16, 2004

Nielsen raters operate in stealth

NEW YORK – Like any average American couple, Samantha and Bob were sitting at home on a recent Tuesday night, watching television. But unlike the millions of other Americans doing the same thing at that moment, they were being paid…