Top Stories - U.S. News & World Report

Despite tough times, electronics makers appear to be determined to deliver a touch of luxury this holiday season. They're bucking a history of dreary beige-and-black boxes with devices that look stylish--even beautiful. Smooth lines from nature, colors with a bit of whimsy, and bold designs that enhance functionality are breathing life into a moribund industry.

The Rhodes Trust announced yesterday the 32 American Rhodes scholars who will begin studying at England's Oxford University in the fall of 2010. The Rhodes Scholarship, which was created in 1902, covers the costs of two, three, or--in some cases--four years of study at Oxford.

It has been a year since Florida State football star Myron Rolle famously arrived on the field halfway into Florida State's 37-3 victory against the University of Maryland. The standout safety was capping off a whirlwind November day that marked an exciting chapter in Rolle's story, one that picked up steam this summer and will be a hot topic when the NFL draft process starts in the next few months.

The Rhodes Scholarship is the oldest international fellowship. Established after the death of British colonialist, magnate, and statesman Cecil J. Rhodes in 1902, it brings outstanding students from many countries around the world--with 32 each year coming from the United States--to pursue studies in all of the fields available at the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

It's an agonizing time to be a laissez-faire capitalist.

Nov. 30 is the deadline for most people to reinvest any unwanted minimum payouts from retirement plans. When people with IRAs, 401(k)s, and other qualifying plans reach the age of 70 and a half, they must begin taking at least minimum required distributions (RMDs) from these plans, according to IRS rules. But there was widespread sentiment to waive this requirement for 2009 RMDs because big 2008 investment losses would have forced many retirees to sell holdings at depressed prices.

Management writer Lin Bothwell once said that it takes a darned good meeting to beat no meeting at all. Those of us who've sat through mind-numbing meetings would agree. When people stagger to the door and announce that "it's time to get back to work," they are revealing how they regard the time just spent.

Even as the U.S. economy expanded in the third quarter, the nation's eroding labor market sent the mortgage delinquency rate to new heights and created fresh headaches for the Obama administration. About 1 in every 7 home loans in the country was either past due or in foreclosure at the end of the third quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's most recent National Delinquency Survey. That's the highest delinquency rate in the survey's history (the data begin in 1972). ...

Save or spend? That will be the question that bedevils consumers over the next several years as they replenish their rainy-day funds, rebalance their debt, and limp toward retirement.

With a slowly recovering economy, retailers are looking for ways to lure wary customers into their stores on Black Friday. Some retailers are attracting shoppers by staying open on Thanksgiving Day, in addition to extending their hours on Black Friday. Wal-Mart leads the pack, with most of its stores remaining open for 24 hours on Thanksgiving Day as well as Black Friday. On Thanksgiving, the Gap will open at 9 a.m., Banana Republic at 11 a.m., and Old Navy at noon. Toys "R" Us stores will open their doors at midnight before Black Friday. ...

U.S. News has compiled a new ranking to determine which top-ranked public universities in the 2010 edition of America's Best Colleges have the largest percentage of out-state-students. This new ranking is useful if you are a prospective student looking to apply to a public university outside your own state, since it will enable you to determine which top publics have the largest and smallest enrollments from out of state. It will also give you some indication of the likelihood of getting accepted.

If you have teenagers, you know that two of their most beloved pieces of hardware are the cellphone and the car. Put them together, and it's teen nirvana. One quarter of teenagers say they text while driving, according to a new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, despite the many public safety campaigns pointing out the dangers. Half of the teenagers polled say they have ridden in a car while the teenage driver was texting.

As is the case with all our presidents, we are watching Barack Obama grow older before our eyes. It's almost as if someone pushed the fast-forward button on his natural aging process. Take a look at the then-and-now photos to see how gray he's gotten since his January inauguration.

Are any of the obstacles standing between you and your dreams self-inflicted? If so, you're in good company. We all manage to get in our own way at times. Fortunately, sometimes all it takes to stop getting in our own way is to realize we're doing it. With that in mind, here are five mistakes I see frequently blocking people's path to passion:

Last week, I told you why bosses should be nice when employees resign. Now, I'm going to tell you why-- even if your boss is the devil incarnate, Prada-clad or not--you should resign professionally.

In a comment on my "How to Survive a Bad Boss" post, one reader asked, "But what if you are so nervous around your boss, and your fear of failure is amplified by her actions? What recommendations might be offered as far as coping skills?"

Making a home suitable for older occupants is becoming a mainstream part of the home remodeling business. Growing numbers of seniors want to remain in their homes as they age, and attractive design solutions for aging in place projects have evolved. Making such modifications not only helps current occupants but may broaden the market for future buyers when the home is placed on the market.

After months of favoring speculative gambits, the momentum of the Asian markets is returning once again to the hands of the long-term investor, says Robert Horrocks of Matthews International Capital Management. Citing a reduction in the valuation gaps between Asia and the rest of the world, Horrocks says investors should start focusing on fundamental earnings potential rather than on market timing.

After the dust clears from the furious rally in stock prices, what will happen next? It's the question in the back of every investor's mind, and the answer could be far from encouraging. The way many economists see it, the market is headed for a sustained period of slow growth as the tepid borrowing environment and sluggish employment prospects balance out the recent rash of enthusiasm.

The fitful nature of the housing sector's healing process was apparent Wednesday when a government report on new-home construction came in much weaker than economists had expected. The Commerce Department reported that October housing starts dropped nearly 11 percent from September and almost 31 percent from a year earlier. "The headline number is a shocker," Patrick Newport, U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight, said in a report. Here are four things you need to know about the development:

Everyone knows that kids are in the midst of, as pediatric exercise scientist Avery Faigenbaum calls it, an "unfitness epidemic." According to a July report on the nation's obesity problem, fewer than a third of kids between the ages of 6 and 17 take part in regular vigorous activity, defined as 20 minutes at a stretch of exercise intense enough to break a sweat and prompt heavy breathing. ...

As the deadline approached, the National Association of Realtors urged lawmakers to extend the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, insisting that the perk had played such a vital role in the housing market's recent stability that its expiration was too risky. "Without congressional action now, the market and our national economy may freeze again--possibly as soon as this month," Ron Phipps, NAR's first vice president, told a Senate panel on October 20.

As the Supreme Court mulls over mutual funds' fees, analysts have lined up to read between the lines. And while a decision in Jones v. Harris Associates is probably months away, there is no shortage of opinions about its implications.

Last week we learned that male factory workers exposed to large amounts of BPA, a chemical in some plastics, had abnormally high rates of erectile dysfunction and other sexual performance problems. This week the news is about phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates). Researchers reported in the International Journal of Andrology that this family of chemicals, used in manufacturing polyvinyl chloride plastics, seems to make little boys behave a bit more like little girls. This small study isn't as worrisome as the headlines suggest. ...

Why do some people love the Toyota Prius, but others couldn't care less about driving a hybrid vehicle? Why do some of your friends spend hours trying to reduce their carbon footprint, while others wonder what's the point of even recycling?

I'm turning 40 next year and always figured that would be when I'd start having mammograms. Now I'm not so sure. New recommendations issued yesterday by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advise women against routine screening in their 40s, saying instead they should make individual decisions. The guidelines also now recommend mammograms every two years, instead of annually, for women ages 50 to 74 and make no recommendation for women 75 and over. ...

If reforms out of Washington are poised to wreck the healthcare industry, somebody forgot to tell the stock market--including hundreds of professional investors who own healthcare stocks and get paid to assess their prospects.

One of the most common themes of questions I receive at Ask a Manager is: "How can I change my manager?" Or, how can I make her stop this annoying habit, or not be a jerk, or learn to manage her time better?