February 6, 2005

Dexter Filkins article holds that Jan 30 elections altered Iraq's relationship with US more than any single event since invasion; maintains that since Saddam Hussein's rule crumbled, Iraqis have viewed themselves as American subjects; says that changed when millions of Iraqis streamed to polls; contends that few Iraqis had ever voted in free election, yet most seemed to know exactly what exercise was about: selecting their own representatives to lead their own country; photo (M)

Cancer research program at Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albany, NY, exemplifies systematic weaknesses in human research protections program cited in internal memorandum of Veterans Affairs Dept in 2003, especially in industry-funded studies, which account for about 80 percent of department's human research; internal whistleblowers at Stratton faced reprisals; Food and Drug Administration and General Accounting Office investigative teams found pattern of non-compliance with regulations; external non-profit National Committee for Quality Assurance began ongoing accreditation process for program in 2001, and has accredited just under one third of 118 research centers; photos (L)

Terrence Rafferty reviews book Death of an Ordinary Man by Glen Duncan; excerpt; drawings; photo (M)

Profile of video artist Eve Sussman, whose newest project, video opera Raptus, is retelling of Roman myth of Sabine women set in 1960's; photos (M)

President Bush was greeted with enthusiasm in Montana last week. But the plan to overhaul Social Security that he was promoting seems to be a tougher sell there. Page 15.