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Latino students make up the largest minority group of America's school-age population -- and there's broad consensus in research and policy circles that public schools are not doing a good job of meeting their needs. In the first of a five-part special report on U.S. Latinos and education, NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports from Gainesville, Ga., on one community's efforts to educate the area's burgeoning Hispanic population.

Tom Ridge, President Bush's choice to head the new Department of Homeland Security, now faces the daunting task of integrating nearly two dozen different organizations. Ridge has been seeking the advice of corporate leaders who've dealt with large mergers. Robert Siegel talks with one of them. He's Norm Augustine, former chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin.

Supporters of two Illinois National Guard pilots accused of manslaughter in a friendly-fire incident say the government is bowing to political pressure from Canada, whose soldiers were fired upon in Afghanistan by U.S. planes. Four Canadians were killed and eight wounded. Charges are rare in friendly-fire incidents, even when those incidents result in death. Reporter Kelly McEvers has more.

Tree sitting has become an increasingly common form of environmental protest. In southern California, a professional tree sitter is occupying a 400-year-old oak, trying to stop the bulldozers. In northern California, a whole sub-culture has arisen to serve the dozens of people sitting in trees. Reporter Jason Margolis climbed a tree near Freshwater, Calif.

Reversing a policy it has enforced for more than a generation, the Federal Election Commission says candidates for federal office may pay themselves a limited salary from their campaign funds. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

Researchers studying autism say strong scientific evidence suggests the developmental disability begins in the genes. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports.

Shipping companies and West Coast dockworkers reach a tentative agreement on a six-year labor contract. If ratified, the settlement would end a bitter labor dispute that shut down West Coast ports for 10 days this fall. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

President Bush today signed the law creating a vast new federal department to oversee security efforts within the 50 states. The new entity will include nearly two dozen agencies and more than 170,000 employees -- and it will take time to achieve the information sharing and coordination that are its main goals. NPR's Pam Fessler reports from the White House.

Journalist Ellen Ruppel Shell has written a new book, The Hungry Gene: The Science of Fat and the Future of Thin. Shell is a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and has written for The New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian, Discover and other publications. She's an associate professor and co-director of Knight Center for Science Journalism at Boston University.

Following the NATO summit, President Bush made a very brief stop to visit President Putin in Russia, where the two made some rather cryptic public comments concerning Iraq. NPR Senior Analyst Daniel Schorr says that these remarks make some sense when one considers Russia's fears about Iraqi oil. Concerns that a successful U.S. invasion could lower world oil prices and damage Russia's economy have led Putin to point out other global dangers deserving attention and led Bush to offer assurances that the United States has no long-term designs on controlling Iraq's oil.