Chalkboard crusaders
The lauded nonprofit Teach for America has finally landed in San Francisco, bringing amped-up idealists with little experience into the city’s toughest classrooms on the promise that they will instantly change thousands of young lives. Is it hype?
 DNA’s identity crisisIf defense attorney Bicka Barlow and a growing group of skeptical lawyers and scientists are right, we have built our justice system’s use of DNA evidence on statistical sand. | |
 Berkeley à la modeNew York, Milan, Paris…Berkeley? Set aside all the clichés about tie-dye and “clothing-optional,” and ponder this astonishing development: The University of California, Berkeley—a world-class innovator in many disciplines, but certainly not in fashion—has recently spawned seven of the hottest style makers in American design. |  Night at the museumWith cover fees slashed and alcohol for sale, party nights at the Bay Area’s cultural institutions are taking on the bars. |
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK
The best investment advice you'll never get
For 35 years, Bay Area finance revolutionaries have been pushing a personal investing strategy that brokers despise and hope you ignore.
FEATURE
The adventures of Marissa
The serious power and glam passions of Marissa Mayer, the gorgeously geeky Googler who’s generating a new kind of Silicon Valley notoriety.
FEATURE
A new buzz
The days of dark roasts and triple soy lattes are coming to an end. Welcome to the brave new world of coffee.
THE PROFILE
The admissions whisperer
When it comes to applying for college, some well-connected Bay Area kids have a secret edge: a coach named Mary Clarke.
