NEWSWEEK: Media Lead Sheet/March 31, 2008 Issue (on Newsstands Monday, March 24)

COVER: "When 'Barry' Became Barack" (p. 25). Senior White House Correspondent Richard Wolffe reconstructs the period when Sen. Barack Obama began using the name Barack instead of Barry-part of his almost lifelong quest for identity and belonging. Wolffe and a team of Newsweek correspondents reconstruct Obama's journey from one name to another and explore what light that journey sheds on his character. Part black, part white, raised in Hawaii and Indonesia, with family of different religious and spiritual backgrounds -- seen by others in ways he didn't see himself -- the young Barry was looking for solid ground. He changed his name in a period when he was at Occidental College in California and heading to New York, to finish college at Columbia. He was trying to reinvent himself. "It was when I made a conscious decision: I want to grow up," Obama tells Newsweek.

    http://www.newsweek.com/id/128633

    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080323/NYSU001 )

"For Those Who've Fallen, Salvation Amid the Suds" (p. 28). National Correspondent Allison Samuels reports on the new generation of up-and-coming black ministers who are reaching out to young African-Americans. Many young black pastors grew up in the pews listening to the often fiery sermons of civil-rights-era ministers. They revere their predecessors and share their anger at persistent racism and inequality. But they have faced fewer obstacles in life and often have more-nuanced attitudes than their elders about race and racism in this country.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/128549

ELLIS COSE: "It Was Always Headed Here" (p. 33). Contributing Editor Ellis Cose writes that even if Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright Jr. had not been a factor this week in his campaign, it was "inevitable that Obama would have been forced to make a major speech on race. He and his campaign always have been defined, in part, in racial terms ... He has tried hard to make the case that his candidacy is more about health care, economic opportunity and getting out of Iraq than about race. Yet he cannot escape perceptions and preconceptions based on the color of his skin."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/128547

JONATHAN ALTER: "The Obama Dividend" (p. 37). Senior Editor and Columnist Jonathan Alter writes that while we don't know yet whether Obama can get himself elected president, much less prove a success in office, he is "showing signs that he could project his voice in the theater of the American presidency. Even if his legislative agenda founders, he might be able to help the nation raise its sights in new ways. You might think of it as the Obama Dividend."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/128548

IRAQ: "Saddam's Files" (p. 38). Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff reports that a just-released Pentagon study on Saddam Hussein's regime and ties to terrorism does not include any mention of a plot to assassinate former President George H.W. Bush, a comment by current President Bush made in 2002 that referred to a 1993 claim by the Kuwaiti government that the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) had plotted to assassinate the former president during a trip to Kuwait. The study found that the IIS kept remarkably detailed records of virtually every operation it planned. But the researchers could find no documents that referred to the alleged plan to kill Bush.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/128620

SCANDALS: "Girls Will Be Girls. Or Not" (p. 39). Senior Editor Julia Baird reports that while there has been a spate of men caught with their pants around their ankles in recent years, political scientists scratch their heads when asked to come up with a female equivalent for the men. There have been only a handful of minor scandals involving women in public office in America, and most of them have been due to love affairs, not casual -- or commercial -- liaisons.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/128648

INTERNATIONAL: "The Next Saffron Revolution" (p. 40). Beijing Bureau Chief Melinda Liu reports on Beijing's latest brutal crackdown on ethnic-Tibetan unrest and interviews exiled spiritual and political leader the Dalai Lama. He tells Liu that he had been driven to tears by images of the violence. "But at the deeper, emotional level there is calm," he says. "Every night in my Buddhist practice, I give and take. I take in Chinese suspicion; I give back trust and compassion." Those mantras may be a comfort to the Dalai Lama, but thousands of younger Tibetans are only hardening in their fury. Every Chinese attempt to silence the protests seems almost calculated to do the opposite.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/128543

BUSINESS: "How a Lack of Faith Pounded The Markets" (p. 48). Senior Writer Dan Gross reports on the week's economic news, most notably the collapse of Bear Stearns. The collapse shows just how parlous the state of financial markets has become, as well as the corrosive effect of ebbing confidence. A lack of faith, as much as a lack of cash, killed Bear Stearns. The investment bank failed in large measure because counterparties -- other banks, hedge funds and financial institutions -- no longer wanted to extend credit to it, no longer felt comfortable trading with the company or leaving their assets in its custody.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/128538

"Retirement Postponed" (p. 52). National Correspondent Daniel McGinn reports that the triple whammy of the housing bust, the weakening economy and the turbulent stock market affects most Americans, but few are as shaken as leading-edge baby boomers on the brink of retirement. For many boomers who'd planned the stereotypical retirement play of selling their house and downsizing to a sun-belt condo, falling home values and a lack of offers have put those plans on hold. Some retire and then go back to work. Others find part-time work.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/128540

SHARON BEGLEY: "The Myth of 'Best in the World'" (p. 47). Science Columnist Sharon Begley writes about the health-care system in the U.S. and the myth that's it's "the best in the world." The country ranks 28th in infant mortality rates. But you can look at that and say yes, it's terrible, but "it doesn't apply to my part of the health-care system -- the one for the non-poor insured." There is a spate of new research that shows the U.S. well behind other developed countries on measures from cancer survival to diabetes care that cannot entirely be blamed on the rich-poor or insured-uninsured gulf.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/128635

EXCERPT: "Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death and Politics" (p. 54). Contributing Editor Eleanor Clift, in her forthcoming memoir about her husband Tom Braizities, writes about the day he died after a long battle with cancer.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/128536

TIP SHEET: "It's Time To Trim the Fat" (p. 63). Contributing Editor Linda Stern reports on how families are living under tighter budgets in these economic times. Cheap is the new cool and there are now families blogging about how they're making it work. Try saving on insurance policies by increasing your deductibles; keep checking on cell phone/Internet/TV plans; download coupons and comparison shop and cut the restaurant budget.

http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/tipsheet/archive/2008/03/22/it-s-time-

to-trim-the-fat.aspx (Due to URL length, copy and paste URL into browser)