Elisabeth Rosenthal, a 1974 graduate of Scarsdale High School, is currently the global environment reporter for the NY Times. Her travels in the last year to Brazil, India, Stockholm, Rotterdam and many more, provide an interesting perspective on this question.
Ms Rosenthal graduated Stanford University, received an MD from Harvard University, and worked in the ER at New York Hospital. After writing for the NY Times, she decided to become a full time journalist. She was assigned to the China desk at the Times in 1998, wrote long, detailed and important essays on SARS and AIDS, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.