Letter from the editor.

In this issue, we focus on Mexico, with a cover story on the hazardous journey that a million Mexicans make each year attempting to cross the border illegally into the U.S. We then visit Alicia Alvarez, 15, and her family in Mexicali. Alicia would like to go to college and improve her life, but she'll need to overcome many challenges to do so.

An in-depth article in our national section poses a "big picture" question about America: Are we still a class-based society? We hope it provokes some interesting student debates. We also look at President Bush's choice of Samuel A. Alito Jr. for the Supreme Court.

If we can take five minutes of your time, we've posted a short survey for teachers who use Upfront at www.scholastic.com/upfrontsurvey. Your feedback is incredibly valuable in helping us put the magazine together, so thanks in advance for your input.