Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:07:42 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Alex Pasternack :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Alex+Pasternack istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us ALEX PASTERNACK http://www.nysun.com/arts/for-chinese-design-students-an-olympian-task/84293/ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST BEIJING — No pandas, no kung fu, and no Great Wall. No paper cutting. And please, no dragons. Amid the symbolic fanfare of Beijing's Olympics, visitors to the games this month have been hard-pressed to spot many of China's most recognizable symbols. But according to the man who helped advise Beijing on its image for the games, Xiao Yong, the icons' conspicuous absence is by design. "Many of the elements that people understand and know, we wouldn't dare to use them anymore," Mr. Xiao, a... ALEX PASTERNACK http://www.nysun.com/arts/reluctant-return-for-a-beijing-provocateur/72496/ Fri, 7 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST BEIJING — It can often be hard to tell if the Beijing-based artist Ai Weiwei, who returns to New York this week to open a solo show at Mary Boone Gallery, is being cheeky or dead serious. In January, after having helped Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron design the stunning stadium for this summer's Olympic games, Mr. Ai lambasted the event in a post on his Web log. "An Olympics without freedom and against the will of the people will … be nonsense because no totalitarian regime can pretend... ALEX PASTERNACK http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/young-and-republican-and-proud-of-it/995/ Mon, 30 Aug 2004 00:00:00 EST Zara Kozlov, a sprightly 24-year-old from New Jersey, cuts an image of suburban wholesomeness, rounded out with old-fashioned manners. At 5'4", wearing a pink tank top and waves of short brunette hair, she meets her interviewer exactly when she says she will ("I can guarantee 2:15") - not a minute later or earlier. She's been diligently preparing for her final year Cordoza School of Law in the Village, where she helps edit its law journal. Yet, when classes start, she'll be playing hooky... ALEX PASTERNACK http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/us-open-draws-an-apolitical-crowd/1034/ Mon, 30 Aug 2004 00:00:00 EST As activists and conventioneers from around the country converged at Madison Square Garden, another excited - though more reserved - group of out-of-towners assembled in Flushing. The only rally they were interested in was a quiet one between players on a court at the USTA National Tennis Center, where the U.S. Open tournament starts today. Hundreds of tourists trickled onto the grounds in Flushing to watch players practice free of charge - a tradition for tennis enthusiasts and a reminder that... ALEX PASTERNACK http://www.nysun.com/new-york/scarcity-of-anti-kerry-book-on-shelves-raises/776/ Wed, 25 Aug 2004 00:00:00 EST While a best-selling book has brought questions about Senator Kerry's Vietnam record to the front burner, some New Yorkers are asking another question: Where is the book? "Unfit for Command," the centerpiece of the critique of the Democratic presidential candidate's war experience that has played out in the press recently, rose to the top of best-seller lists this week, but shoppers say they have had a hard time finding it at New York bookstores, where it's either sold out or given minimal... ALEX PASTERNACK http://www.nysun.com/national/miramax-rejects-rnc-anti-kerry-film/789/ Wed, 25 Aug 2004 00:00:00 EST A proposal by the Republican National Committee to put a short documentary attacking John Kerry in theaters around the country was rejected by film distributor Miramax, RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie said yesterday. The film, a bare-bones collection of video clips of Senator Kerry making apparently contradictory statements on Iraq and entitled "Kerry Iraq Documentary," was released at the end of July and has since been distributed on the Internet, by mail, at state fairs, and during Republican... ALEX PASTERNACK http://www.nysun.com/education/new-collegians-prepare-for-convention-clogging/672/ Mon, 23 Aug 2004 00:00:00 EST On top of the usual uncertainties that surround the first week of college - roommates, classes, and how to find the dining hall - the thousands of freshmen arriving in New York at the end of August are facing an additional unknown: sharing their new hometown with a 300,000-person political convention. "I'm actually really frustrated about it. It's really hard going away to college anyway; it's going to be so busy, and this just makes things more difficult," said Gillian Berrow, an 18-year-old... ALEX PASTERNACK http://www.nysun.com/new-york/to-flee-or-not-to-flee-is-ny-question/212/ Thu, 12 Aug 2004 00:00:00 EST Conventional city wisdom dictates there is no better time to flee the city than the last week in August - especially when that happens to be the week of the Republican National Convention. On top of terror concerns, add some of New Yorkers' biggest nuisances to this year's end-of-summer boil - Republicans (roughly 30,000), journalists (15,000), protesters (500,000), and street closings (more than 30 blocks), and the notion of staying in the city seems ridiculous. But then there's the other... ALEX PASTERNACK http://www.nysun.com/foreign/rights-reports-tie-khartoum-to-killings/119/ Tue, 20 Jul 2004 00:00:00 EST Arab militias that use systematic rape to intimidate African women in the war-torn Darfur region have been backed, protected, and recruited by the Sudanese government, documents and testimony collected by human rights groups showed yesterday. Two days ahead of a U.N. Security Council vote on sanctions against militia leaders, confidential memos obtained by Human Rights Watch provided evidence of a governmental policy of protection, support, and recruitment of militiamen known as Janjaweed...