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• Markets Dive in Last Hour, Carving New Lows
• In a day dominated by fear and uncertainty, financial markets plunged in late trading, after spending much of the day bobbing between positive and negative territory.
• Democrats Ask Automakers for Way Forward
• Democratic leaders in Congress gave auto industry leaders 12 days to come back with a plan showing that federal aid would be well-spent.
• Judge Orders Five Detainees Freed From Guantánamo
• In an important test of the Bush administration’s detention policies, a federal judge ruled that five Guantánamo Bay prisoners are not being lawfully held.
• Generation Faithful: Hezbollah Marshals the Young via Scout Troops
• In Lebanon, Hezbollah is educating a younger generation to continue its military struggle against Israel.
• Longtime Head of House Energy Panel Is Ousted
• Representative Henry A. Waxman unseated John D. Dingell to become chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee.
• China Announces Food Safety Rules
• The Chinese government issued several new measures aimed at reining in abuses in the dairy industry.
• City Room: M.T.A. Details Steep Service Cuts
• Faced with its most severe financial crisis since the 1970s, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced plans on Thursday to drastically
• Grenade Attack Kills Thai Protester
• An anti-government protester was killed and at least 29 were injured in an attack against activists occupying the Government House in Bangkok, according to reports.
• Mussina Announces Retirement
• Mike Mussina, who turns 40 next month, is leaving after his first season of 20 victories.
• Baghdad Bureau: Security Agreement Déjà Vu
• When putting the negotiations surrounding the recent Status of Forces Agreement in historical context with past reporting in The New York Times, the echoes of today's headlines are uncanny.
• City Room: Buying One Stamp? Lick Your Wounds
• If you buy stamps, one at a time, get in line, the post office says. The vending machines that used to sell customers only one stamp are rapidly disappearing.
• Well: News Keeps Getting Worse for Vitamins
• Study after study has failed to show that regular vitamin use prevents heart disease and cancer.
• TierneyLab: Dancing With the Scientists
• Four researchers have won the coveted AAAS/Science Dance Contest, which rewards those brave enough to choreograph and perform their dissertations.
• Discussions With Clintons as Obama Creates Team
• Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Penny Pritzker, a businesswoman, also emerged as cabinet contenders.
• On the White House: Clinton Decision Holding Up Other Obama Choices
• All of the foreign policy jobs in the Obama administration have been held up because of the uncertainty over the appointment of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

NYT > Education

• California Universities Will Cut Enrollment Unless State Increases Money
• Hard hit by budget cuts, the California State University system is planning to cut its enrollment by 10,000 students for the 2009-10 academic year.
• James Armsey Dies at 90; Oversaw College Grants
• As a Ford Foundation executive, Mr. Armsey directed more than $350 million in grants to universities in the 1960s while prompting the foundation to deny grants to segregated universities.
• Head of Teachers’ Union Offers to Talk on Tenure and Merit Pay
• A frail economy prompted a gesture of compromise from Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
• Study Abroad Flourishes, With China a Hot Spot
• The number of Americans studying in China increased by 25 percent last year, according to a new report.
• Presidents’ Pay Rises Faster at Public Universities Than Private Ones, Survey Finds
• The president of Suffolk University in Boston received a $2.8 million pay package in 2006-7, while the president of Ohio State University was compensated with $1.3 million a year.
• Cuomo Investigating Colleges’ Deals With Health Insurers
• The investigation by the attorney general appears to be focused on the adequacy of disclosure of policy terms and costs to students.
• News Analysis: Letter Grades Look Simple, but Realities Are Complex
• The A-through-F grading system for New York City schools is billed as a public information tool, but the grades can obscure salient information about schools.
• Parents’ Night With the President
• Washington’s prestigious private schools are competing to have the Obama girls within their halls of power.
• Enrollment Surges in Quick Prep Courses
• In these shaky economic times, more students are skipping a degree and heading straight for the colleges’ noncredit training and certification programs.
• I. Bernard Weinstein, Who Studied Causes of Cancer, Dies at 78
• Dr. Weinstein was a researcher at Columbia University who advanced the study of how pollutants and other environmental factors can cause cancer.
• Dallas Schools Used False Hiring Data
• Eager to hire teachers for bilingual programs, the Dallas public school system assigned fake Social Security numbers to newly hired foreigners, an internal investigation found.
• Teachers Win Bonuses at High-Need Schools
• Teachers at 33 high-need secondary schools across New York City will receive bonuses of several thousand dollars each as a reward for student gains on school report cards.
• Plan to Centralize Choice of Kindergarten Is Ended
• Drawing protests, the Eduction Department will abandon its plan and require all schools to follow the same admission rules.
• A School Chief Takes On Tenure, Stirring a Fight
• The Washington, D.C., school chancellor has proposed spectacular raises for teachers willing to give up tenure.
• Dartmouth Junior Wins County Election
• Vanessa Sievers was not content to wait tables or make coffee as a side job. Instead she ran for treasurer of Grafton County, N.H., and won.
• Women Gain in Education but Not Power, Study Finds
• A study found that women still lag far behind men in top political and decision-making roles, though their access to education and health care is nearly equal.
• Most City High Schools Improved This Year
• More than 83 percent of New York City’s high schools received a grade of A or B on the Bloomberg administration’s contentious report cards.
• Schools See Pain Ahead if the State Cuts Aid
• Under the governor’s proposal, school districts across the state could face staff reductions, larger class sizes and fewer extracurricular programs.
• School District Tries to Lure Asian Parents
• In Jericho, N.Y., the high school’s new diversity has revealed a cultural chasm over the meaning of parental involvement.
• Applications Surge for Courses at CUNY’s 2-Year Colleges
• In September and October, CUNY colleges received 15 percent more applicants than all of last year.
• Colleges Struggle to Preserve Financial Aid
• With the financial markets in crisis, the days of swelling educational endowments and plentiful financial aid are over.
• Training to Lead Nonprofits
• Members of “Gen Y” have sparked a surge in nonprofit management and leadership courses at colleges and universities around the country.
• Groups ‘Party for a Cause’ to Help Charities
• An annual event that has raised more than $40,000 for Heal the Bay, a nonprofit organization devoted to cleaning up the beaches of Southern California.
• Finding Similarities Among the Differences
• A program brings together high school students of different faiths and encourages cooperation on community service projects.
• Parenting | Basking Ridge: Drawing the Line on Drug Testing
• Is it in a student’s best interest to be subject to drug testing in school, or is the policy an invasion of privacy?
• City Room: Ask About After-School Programs
• Lucy N. Friedman, the president of the nonprofit After-School Corporation, will be answering selected readers’ questions.