CONTRIBUTORS

ALICE PARK, who covers medicine for TIME, did in-depth reporting on the science of spinal-cord injuries for this week's cover story on Christopher Reeve. Park came to us as a summer intern in 1993 after earning an M.S. in science journalism from Boston University. Says contributor Roger Rosenblatt, who wrote the story: "I can't imagine working with a more informed, scrupulous reporter than Alice." To Park, the important aspect of her job is the focus on real lives affected by disease. "When I talked by phone with Reeve, impersonal studies suddenly took on a new urgency," she says. "Listening to him describe how his life has changed, I experienced firsthand the power he has to inspire people about the need for more research."

SUSANNA SCHROBSDORFF has been coordinating the magazine's reporting facilities at the political conventions and the Olympics. Which means she makes sure our reporters have the computers, phones and faxes they need--but that's just the beginning. For last week's Republican Convention, she also dealt with the Republican National Committee and local officials for parking, accreditations and floor passes. And during her spare time, she has reported on Olympic figure skating and gymnastics. "Her work," says assistant managing editor Joelle Attinger, "requires a blend of technical, organizational and journalistic skills. Luckily for us, they all come together in Susanna."

BRUCE W. NELAN, our foreign-policy maven, brings 32 years of experience to his work. This week he writes about the Russian disaster in Chechnya and about some questionable U.S. muscle flexing. "My 16 years overseas gives me some ability to see the U.S. as the rest of the world sees it," he says. "We tend to think our leadership is unquestionable. Even our best friends don't share that view." Nelan, who has been bureau chief in Hong Kong, Bonn, Moscow and Johannesburg, now works in Washington, where, thanks to his computer, he can operate in perfect sync with the home office in New York City. In fact, he notes, he can often get answers faster by E-mail than by walking down the hall.

WILLIAM CAMPBELL and MARYANNE VOLLERS met in 1982, when both were working for TIME in Africa, and married in 1983. As a team, they've since covered aids and the Ethiopian famine for us. Their latest story, on a spiritual boot camp for teens in the Lakota Indian territory of South Dakota, reminded them of their African days: high winds, storms, sleeping in a truck. The reservation, Vollers observes, "had a distinct culture of its own--it was exciting to find a remote place within our own country." For photographer Campbell, a keen environmentalist, and writer Vollers, whose book The Ghosts of Mississippi was nominated for last year's National Book Award, it was a joy to "rediscover, after several years, the dynamic of working together."