The dispute shows how hard it is to come up with a system for doling out precious but scarce spots in elite universities without angering someone.

But just as Manhattan motorists who find themselves racing to the same precious spot engage in a little verbal road rage, so too have arguments boiled over Diwali.

In these precious sunny spots new plants sprout up, new creatures take hold and patch by patch the forest is reborn in a rapid dynamic of change.

As long as there are some precious bright spots along the way, patience will likely exist, even in tough taskmasters like Baylor.

The home run spate has been one of the precious few bright spots this season for the fourth-place Mets.

Hordes of paparazzi, professional and amateur, rise at dawn to stake out precious spots.

There are players, like Gondrezick and Ken Bannister, who lost precious spots on N.B.A. benches.

Along with 40-odd classmates, he won a precious spot on the law review at the end of his first year through grades and a writing competition.

One boy screamed and struggled to move his stiff limbs - he would earn a precious spot in the ambulance because Dr. Caunes suspected tetanus.

"Here is a precious spot," Mr. Mena recalls telling his wife as he pulled over to take a closer look at one of the dilapidated bungalows.