A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper Book

	Introduction	1
	Lani "Quota Queen" Guinier: Voting, Power, and Mathematics	9
	Bosnia: Is It Vietnam or World War II?: Psychological Availability and Anchoring Effects	14
	Recession Forecast If Steps Not Taken: Unpredictability, Chaos, and Pooh-Poohing the Pooh-Bahs	19
	Afta Nafta, Lafta; Free Traders Exult: Headlines and the Inverted Pyramid	27
	Pakistan's Bhutto Gambles in Trade Negotiations: On Dice and Bluffing	30
	Clinton, Dole in Sparring Roles: Who's News and Grammar Checkers	34
	Iraqi Death Toll Unknown: Benchmark Figures in War, Crisis, and the Economy	38
	D'Amato Agrees Hillary Most Honest Person Clinton Knows: Ambiguity and Nonstandard Models	42
	Fraud Alleged in Pennsylvania Senate Race: Political and Mathematical Regression	45
	Cult Members Accuse Government of Plot: Newspapers, Coincidences, and Conspiracy Theories	49
	Company Charged with Ethnic Bias in Hiring: Test Disparities Need Not Imply Racism	59
	SAT Top Quartile Score Declines: Correlation, Prediction, and Improvement	63
	Guns Will Soon Kill More Than Cars: Comparability and Intensity	67
	Abortion Activists Bomb Clinic: Prohibitions and Arithmetical Arguments	69
	DNA Fingers Murderer: Life, Death, and Conditional Probability	72
	Darts Trounce the Pros: Luck and the Market	74
	Cellular Phones Tied to Brain Cancer: Multiplication, Health, and Business	79
	GM Trucks Explode on Side Collision: From Pity to Policy	83
	The $32 Billion Pepsi Challenge: Advertising and Numerical Craftiness	86
	Brief Fads Dominate Toy Industry: S-Curves and Novelty	90
	Area Residents Respond to Story: Repetition, Repetition, Repetition	94
	Researchers Look to Local News for Trends: The Present, the Future, and Ponzi Schemes	96
	A Cyberpunk Woody Allen: How to Write a Profile of the Fledgling Celebrity	101
	Tsongkerclintkinbro Wins: Everybody's Got an Angle	104
	Florida Dentist Accused of Intentionally Spreading AIDS: Rumors, Self-Fulfilling Prophecies, and National Obsessions	107
	Interlude: Selves, Heroes, and Dissociation	110
	Candidates Contradict Each Other's Denials: Self-Reference, Intentions, and the News	113
	Special Investigator Says Full Story Not Told: Compressibility and the Complexity Horizon	120
	Newspaper Circulation Down: Factoids on Tabloids	126
	Computers, Faxes, Copiers Still Rare in Russia: Information and the Commissars	128
	Ranking Health Risks: Experts and Laymen Differ: The Dyscalculia Syndrome	133
	Asbestos Removal Closes NYC Schools: Contaminated Mountains Out of Mole Spills	140
	Super Collider a Waste of Money: Science Journalism and Advocacy	144
	Harvard Psychiatrist Believes Patients Abducted by Aliens: Mathematically Creating One's Own Pseudoscience	147
	FDA Caught Between Opposing Protesters: Statistical Tests and Confidence Intervals	151
	Senators Eye Hawaii Health Care Plan: Scaling Up Is So Very Hard to Do	154
	Breakthrough Forecast by End of Decade: You Can't Know More Than You Know	157
	Rodent Population Patterns Difficult to Fathom: Ecology, Chaos, and the News	160
	More Dismal Math Scores for U.S. Students: X, Y, and U	164
	761 Calories, 428 Mgs. Sodium, 22.6 Grams of Fat per Serving: Meaningless Precision	171
	Top Designs for the Busy Working Woman: Fashion, Unpredictability, and Toast	173
	Agassi Wins Again: Scoring and Amplifying Differences	176
	New Survey Reveals Changing Attitudes: Societal Gas Laws	178
	Near-Perfect Game for Roger Clemens: How Many Runs in the Long Run	181
	Bucks County and Environs: A Note on Maps and Graphic Games	184
	Ask About Your Mother-in-Law's Lladro: Explanation, Advice, and Physics	186
	Garden Club Gala: Incidence Matrices on the Society Pages	189
	Ten Reasons We Hate Our Bosses: Lists and Linearity	191
	Stallone on Worst-Dressed List: Traits and Rates	193
	New Biography Fills Much-Needed Gap: Books and News	195
	Which Way Mecca?: Religion in the Paper	197
	R. L. Vickler, 85, Aide to Truman: The Length of Obituaries	199
	Conclusion	201
	Bibliography	205
	Index	207