Friend of gang rape victim blasts school officials over safety

This article is about Kami Baker, a junior a Richmond Highschool in California, who describes the night of the homecoming dance where her best friend was raped and beaten. She was mindlessly dancing when she realized her friend had gone home early. Little did she know, her friend had actually been gang raped and beaten for almost two and a half hours and then left unconscious under a bench. Baker blames school officials for this tragedy. She says there were about a dozen young men outside the gym entrance with no ID's. "The officers -- not only did they not check the IDs of those students or men sitting outside of of our campus, but the security officers who are employed here did no ... checking either. The assistant principal looked outside and actually saw those men, and did nothing about it," she claims. Police have investigated the crime scene, arresting two adults and two minors who will be charged as adults. The victim, a 15-year-old girl who went to church and struggled to fit in at Richmond Highschool, was released from the hospital last Wednesday. Homecoming 2009 for Richmond Highschool students will be a night that will never be forgotten, but not for the right reasons.

I think the saddest thing about this story is that there were 10 or more people who witnessed the victim getting beaten and raped, none of which who called 911. A simple phonecall would potentionally save a lot of damage for this victim. It makes me wonder what this world is coming to if we can't look out for eachother. Another tragedy about this story is that school police officers and officials didn't question the men roaming around the outside of the building. Isn't that their job, to keep students safe? It doesn't look like they did a very good job. This should have never happened. I hope that police officers and officials everywhere will work harder to prevent these tragedies in the future. I'm glad that Kami Backer chose to speak out about this and I hope it will bring awareness everywhere. I will pray for the friends and family of this victim. I hope this never happens again.

UConn to honor slain football player at game

The UConn cornerback, Jasper Howard, was stabbed to death last Saturday. There was a school sponsered dance when the fire alarm went off. All 300 people that were attending the dance left the building and went outside to the parking lot. A fight then broke out between two groups, leaving Howard and one another person stabbed. The incident happened at 12:33 on October 17. Howard was airlifted to St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, where he passed away. UConn Police and Connecticut State Police are currently investigating the incident. They do not have any suspects in mind yet, but they "don't believe it was a random act." Howard was a father-to-be, a beloved son, and a starting cornerback for the UConn Huskies.

Jasper Howard seemed to be a well-liked guy and it's hard for me to understand how another person could hate him so much that he or she would kill him. I hope the murderer is found and faces consequences. This must be really tough for his team, considering he started in every game last year and led the Big East conference in punt returns. This must also be very hard for his family. Like Olivia says, (http://oliviarice.blogspot.com/) the saddest part of this situation is that a little baby has to be brought into this world without a father. I hope whoever committed this crime will turn himself or herself in. Jasper didn't dersever this.

Facebook, Twitter users beware: Crooks are a mouse click away

Since 2006, the FBI reports nearly 3,200 account hijacking cases. If you are on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, or any other social networking site, you are at risk of being the next victim. It all starts when a friend sends you a message, link, or video. Once the message or link is opened, you are lured to a fake website that can easily trick you to giving out personal information and passwords. Once your account is compromised, the theives can perform the same exact attack on any of your friends. As social networking sites continue to grow, they become a frontier for cybercrime. To stay safe, experts say the best advice is to change passwords frequently.

I think people should just be careful when they are on social networking sites. If a link looks sketchy, don't click on it. If an unfamiliar site asks you personal information, don't answer it. Don't give out your password. And if you're really paranoid about you account getting hacked, just delete it altogether. I also think sites should have information available to users about the risks of Internet scams. Facebook users can become a fan of "Facebook Security," which allows them to receive updates on how to protect their accounts. I think all social networking sites should have something similar to this. Having nearly 3,200 account hijacking cases since 2006 shows that this is an issue and should be taken care of. I think the best solution is just to be more careful on social networking sites and to make sure everyone is aware of the risks and how to stay safe.

Baby survives after falling under train

A six-month old baby miraculously lives after his stroller rolled into the tracks of an incoming train last Thursday. This accident was captured CCTV and the footage shows the mother momentarily letting go of the stroller. The stroller then rolled over the platform and almost immediately after a train rolls into the station. The stroller with the baby inside were rolled 33 yards up the track before the train came to a stop. But the baby is unbelievably okay! He managed to come out of it with just a cut on the forehead. The baby was quickly reunited with his mother who took him to Melbourne's Royal Children's hospital, but was later discharged. Victoria State Police Sergeant Micheal Ferwerda says, "Parents especially need to be vigilant especially with toddlers."

I think this is a miracle! To live after being in the tracks of oncoming train! And to come out of it with just a cut on your forehead is almost unbelievable. I hope the mother of this baby will be more careful in the future. I hope parents everywhere are more responsible of their toddlers, especially at train stations. I would hope that nothing like this would ever happen again, because the outcome could most definitely be worse. It would be a great idea to set up campaigns to make people more aware of the dangers of train stations. I know this incident happened in Melbourne, Austrailia, but it could happen anywhere.

Social Insecurity

Social security and medicare, the most expensive federal programs for retirees, are heading towards bankruptcy. Within the next ten years, the government will be spending more money on social security benefits than it receives in revenues from payroll deductions and the medicare program is already losing money. Why is this happening? One of the primary problems is that both men and women are living longer than anyone would have predicted when the programs were developed. Also in the case of medicare, health care costs have skyrocketed in the last decade with medical advances. To solve this problem, there is no easy solution. Some people say we should overhaul the whole system by offering the private investment accounts and cutting benefits for everyone except those who really need it. Others argue that the problem can be solved with a couple modest fixes, like raising the retirement age and rasing the cap.

With people living longer and higher health care costs, I think we need to cut benefits for everyone except for the the ones who truley need it. This meaning we only provide social security and medicare to the people who can't afford it otherwise. It's reasonable not to provide it for those are who wealthy enough to comfortably pay for it themselves. Who really needs that much money anyways? And this would also help tighten the gap between the wealthy and poor. I think this is the best route to take. Raising the retirement age would postpone payments for the government, but could create hardships for the retirees or force employees to work beyond normal retirement age. And raising the cap on earnings above the current $106,800 (meaning wages above that amount would be taxed for social security) would create inequities with the higher wage earners. Jim Hightower, has similar views as I do when dealing with the federal budget.

Spending What We Can Afford http://erintakle.blogspot.com/

War Dollars http://backstroker321.blogspot.com/

Cabinet officials, Chicagoans discuss ways to end teen violence

Cabinet officials and Chicago leaders met last Wednesday with a group of teens who were schoolmates of Derrion Albert. Derrion Albert, a 16-year-old honors student from Chicago, was brutally beaten to death last month. The beating was videotaped with a cell phone, and it shows that Derrion was caught in the middle of a street fight between two factions of students from Christian Fenger Academy High School on September 24. The nation's top law enforcement official said, "it is an American problem." According to a poll released last Wednesday by the Department of Justice, 60 percent of youth has been exposed to violence, nearly 50 percent have been assaulted, and more than one in ten have been injured as a result. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley told reporters that he would like to see more adults become mentors and more opportunities to be made available for students after school and on Saturdays. Youth violence is not only in Chicago, and something needs to be done about it.

I think the death of Derrion Albert is a tragic and terrible event, but I'm glad it's bringing attention to everyone. I'm glad we're taking steps to become a safer nation, or at least talking about taking them. The poll released by the Department of Justice shows that something needs to be done. I like Richard Daley's idea of giving students the opportunity to be at school after school and on Saturdays because it gives those kids without stable households a place to go. I think we should do everything we can to prevent teen violence. I feel safe everyday, so reading about how many teens have to live with the threat of daily violence is was kind of a wake up call to the harshness and cruelty that remains in many parts of our country. I don't think this problem should be ignored, and I think people should still be aware of it even if it's not happening in their community.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/07/chicago.violence/