Today's Papers from Slate

A Higher Toll

By Daniel Politi

The Los Angeles Times leads with news that the death toll in Iraq in April reached its highest level since late last year. The four U.S. soldiers who were killed yesterday increased the total military deaths in April to 50, a seven-month high. In addition, the Iraqi government reported that 969 civilians died last month, the highest since August. The Washington Post leads with the forced resignation of Lurita Doan, the head of the General Services Administration. Doan had a rocky two-year tenure as head of the government's main contracting agency and was accused of using her position for political purposes as well as helping friends get lucrative contracts. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with a poll that shows only 27 percent of voters view the Republican Party in a positive light, which amounts to "the lowest level for either party in the survey's nearly two-decade history." The interesting part of this is that despite these negative numbers, and the fact that a majority of voters would rather see a Democrat in the White House, Sen. John McCain remains in a statistical dead-heat with the two Democratic contenders.

USA Today leads with a new study that questions whether colleges are really using all that extra money from tuition to benefit students. While the cost of higher education continues to increase, colleges aren't putting that money into the classroom and the number of students graduating hasn't kept up with higher enrollment. But critics say it's unfair to simply look at classroom instruction since colleges are spending money on such things as affordability and technology. The New York Times leads with a look at how Americans are decreasing their spending at a time when fears about the country's economic health continue to grow. New Commerce Department figures report that the overall economy grew 0.6 percent in the first three months of the year while consumer spending increased a mere 1 percent, the lowest level since 2001. Many economists predict the economy will now proceed into negative territory. "This is not a fluke or a technical quirk," said one economist. "It's fundamental. Real disposable income has been squeezed."

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