NPR Story
12:00 pm
Mon March 12, 2012

Why That Song Gets Stuck In Your Head

Credit iStockphoto.com
Researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London are collecting earworms — songs or bits of melody that get stuck in your head. What's yours?

Chances are, you've fallen victim to earworms — pesky songs or melodies that get stuck in your head and just won't get out.

Research suggests that there are psychological reasons why some songs are more likely to stick, including memory triggers, emotional states, and even stress. Some researchers hope to better understand why this happens and figure out what, if anything, music memory can teach psychologists about how to treat patients dealing with memory loss.

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Race
12:00 pm
Mon March 12, 2012

Black Students More Likely To Be Disciplined

A Department of Education study found from 2009 to 2010, black students were 3 1/2 times more likely to be suspended or expelled than white ones. Though the reasons are unclear, many argue harsher punishments push many black and Latino students out of schools and into the criminal justice system.

Opinion
12:00 pm
Mon March 12, 2012

Op-Ed: File Criminal Charges For Hard Hits

The NFL found some two dozen players for the New Orleans Saints took part in a pay-for-hits program that paid bounties for knocking specific players out of games. Those involved likely face fines or suspensions. But lawyer Eldon Ham argues that doesn't go far enough, and proposes criminal charges.

World
12:00 pm
Mon March 12, 2012

The Challenges Of Aid Work In Conflict Zones

In Afghanistan and other conflict zones, the military is often first on the ground, followed by diplomats, contractors and journalists. Next, in many cases, are aid workers: People who work for private organizations and strive to remain impartial in some of the world's most dangerous places.

The Two-Way
11:23 am
Mon March 12, 2012

Treatment Of Bradley Manning Was Cruel And Inhuman, Says U.N. Official

Credit Patrick Semansky / AP
Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, left, is escorted from a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md.

The United Nations special rapporteur on torture has reached the conclusion that the United States violated some of the rights of the Army private accused of leaking classified information to WikiLeaks.

Pfc. Bradley Manning has been in U.S. custody since May 2010 and as we've reported, Juan Méndez, the U.N.'s top torture official, has already had some tough words for the U.S. leading up to this report.

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The Salt
10:44 am
Mon March 12, 2012

Children Face Dangers On Farms, But Not From Farmwork

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Most farm injuries come when children are playing or visiting, not working.

Farms may conjure an image of a pastoral landscape, with children running and frolicking in green pastures. But farms do come with their own dangers. And there's plenty of argument on what should be done to ensure the safety of children who live or work on farms.

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It's All Politics
10:36 am
Mon March 12, 2012

Texas Voter ID Law Blocked By Justice Department

The U.S. Department of Justice has blocked a new voter ID law from going into effect in Texas. The department says the state failed to show that the law would not deny or limit minorities' right to vote. It's the second state voter ID law the department has blocked.

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The Two-Way
9:32 am
Mon March 12, 2012

Aging U.S. Carrier Enterprise Heads For Final Deployment

USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is beginning the last deployment in her storied 50-year career on the frontlines of American sea power.

Known as the "Big E", she was among the vessels dispatched to the waters off Cuba during the October 1962 missile crisis with orders from President Kennedy to enforce an air and sea blockade of the island nation.

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Credit Melissa Kuypers / NPR

Amy Walters is a producer for NPR based at NPR West in Los Angeles.

After graduating from Earlham College with a Bachelor's degree in English, Walters interned at NPR in the Middle East. After returning to the states she joined the staff of Morning Edition in 2000. Soon Walters was recruited to All Things Considered and spent two years on the show. On September 11, 2001, Walters stood on top of NPR's Washington, DC, headquarters watching the smoke float by from the attack on the Pentagon. Walters contributed to NPR's award-winning coverage of that day. The following year she interviewed and produced several minute long segments of survivors remembering the loved ones they lost that day.

As NPR expanded west, Walters followed. A native of Southern California, Walters returned to the golden state as a field producer at NPR's new production facility near Los Angeles. She produced NPR's coverage of the Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's election, award-winning coverage of California's prison system, and the death of pop legend Michael Jackson

Breaking news takes up much of her time but she has also been recognized for her investigative work. With NPR's crime and punishment correspondent Laura Sullivan, Walters was honored with the DART Award for Excellence in coverage of trauma, the RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting, and the Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for their NPR series, "The Sexual Abuse of Native American Women."

The next year Walters and Sullivan received both The Peabody Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Journalism for their series uncovering the truth about the 1972 murder in Angola, Louisiana.

She still travels around the country and the world for NPR. She spent time in Baghdad and produced much of NPR's post-Katrina coverage in New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. Recently, Walters has spent her time uncovering the life and culture of Los Angeles' notorious Skid Row neighborhood, exploring the culture and economics of the marijuana industry in Humboldt County and reporting from Fort Hood, Texas after the shooting massacre there.

It's All Politics
8:27 am
Mon March 12, 2012

Monday Political Grab Bag: Rising Gas Prices Hurt Obama's Ratings Etc

Credit Gene J. Puskar / AP
Some voters believe President Obama has the power to lower gas prices and are blaming him for higher costs.

Rising gas prices have many voters looking for someone to blame and President Obama appears to be as good a target as anyone, a new Washington Post/ABC News poll suggests, with the president's approval rating falling from 50 percent last month to 46 percent recently.

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