Letter from Boston The Sunday Times By MASAKO YAMADA	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
サンデー・タイムズ ニューヨークタイムズは、ボストンの学生の間で広く読まれ、ニュース記事が話題に上ることもしばしばですが、日曜版はというと堅いニュースは少なく、生活・文化関連の記事や芸能ネタが中心です。ルームメートは読むところがないと不満を言いますが、雅子さんはこの日曜版をのんびり読むのが楽しみです。

Every Sunday morning, a very large stack of paper is deposited on our front doorstep. It is our Sunday newspaper. We call the paper the Sunday Times, and even in Boston, everybody knows that "the Times" means the New York Times. The ritual of reading the Sunday Times is one that is followed by many non-New Yorkers. In many places the Times is sold alongside the local newspaper.

Actually, my roommates and I have the New York Times delivered to us every day. We share one student subscription, so home delivery costs each of us only a few dollars a month. It is not uncommon for our peers to refer to articles from the New York Times in daily conversation, and since we hang out with an international crowd (we, ourselves, are international students) it helps us to keep abreast of world events.

The Sunday Times is different, however. People don't really read the Sunday Times for the news articles. They read it more to stay on top of cultural phenomena. In fact, the serious news takes up only a small fraction of the paper's bulk.

Most of the articles are related to general lifestyle issues and entertainment. This makes for a leisurely and enjoyable afternoon of browsing, but I would be the first to admit that most of it is fluff.

Some of my roommates have started complaining that there's nothing for them to read in the Sunday Times and that they'd prefer to have the Sunday Globe delivered instead. The Globe is our local newspaper.

My roommates do like the serious national and international coverage in the weekday New York Times more than the local banter in the Boston Globe, but they say that if they're going to get junk on Sunday, they'd rather it be local junk.

I see their point. One has to wonder why so many people read the New York Times on Sunday when, in fact, they don't really get too much information out of the paper. The answer, I believe, is that the New York Times dictates what topics are important among educated people in the States.

It doesn't really matter what the topic is — fashion, technology, high society, Hollywood, travel, rock 'n' roll, popular literature, personal weddings, obituaries — If it's mentioned in the New York Times, it suddenly becomes something that one needs to know.

I like reading about the lives of celebrities and socialites, knowing what kinds of books are considered acceptable and looking at pictures of silly fashions.

But to my roommates, for whom this sort of thing is unimportant, the Sunday Times doesn't carry much weight. I guess they don't really feel the need to stay on top of popular culture (of a rather snooty sort).

I was talking with an older friend a couple of weeks ago, and it turns out that we both love reading the Sunday Styles section of the Times. I think this is the most frivolous part of the paper. It usually has articles on TV shows, fashion trends, restaurants and other light topics. But our favorite section is the wedding announcement section.

I don't actually know what standards must be met in order to be accepted by the Weddings section, but I do know that it's considered somewhat of a status symbol to be chosen by the editors.

The colleges of the bride and groom are printed prominently, as well as their company names and positions. Even the job titles of their parents are included.

Then again, perhaps the paper is actually being super egalitarian, since it lists every subject's alma mater. Couples who have attended small, local colleges are printed alongside Ivy Leaguers. This suggests that status is determined by factors beyond simple labels.

All of the information is printed matter-of-factly, so most of the announcements are rather boring, but one couple is singled out and given more thorough coverage. This profile is often fascinating, since it usually features an unusual couple and it outlines the trajectory of their romance, rather than focus on their credentials.

My friend and I hotly debated whether certain couples profiled would "make it." It's truly silly to gossip about people we've never met who aren't even famous, but I think this is the sort of bond that ties together readers of the Sunday Times.

Shukan ST: May 26, 2000

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