Bulldog Nation News » News

Fight or Flight

sgray — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:39:09 +0000

Sarah McKinley, 18, calmly used a shotgun to shoot and kill one of two men as he forced his way through the front door of her mobile home in Blanchard, Oklahoma. After losing her husband to lung cancer on Christmas Day McKinley is being recognized as a hero for doing what she believed she had to do in order to protect herself and her 3-month-old son, Justin. The two men were supposedly looking for drugs (most likely painkillers) that they believed might have been left behind by McKinley’s husband. McKinley will not face charges in connection with the case.

The event was captured in a recording of the 911 call in which she asked for help, and also asked for permission to shoot if necessary. The following dialogue took place as shown. “There’s a guy at my door and I’m here by myself with my infant baby. Can I please get a dispatcher out here immediately?” McKinley asks in a voice that is both steady, but tinged with emotion. Grady County dispatcher Diane Graham asks McKinley whether her doors are locked. Her steely answer: “Yes. I’ve got two guns in my hand. Is it OK to shoot him if he comes in my door?” “I can’t tell you that you can do that,” Graham answers, “but you do what you have to do to protect your baby.” Soon after Justin Shane Martin, 24, of Blanchard, died clutching a 12 inch hunting knife in his gloved left hand. His alleged accomplice, Dustin Louis Stewart, 29, also of Blanchard, later turned himself in. Stewart later confessed to police that he and Martin “devised a plan to burglarize the residence” because Martin knew that “a resident of the home had recently died of cancer” and he “suspected narcotics may be located inside the residence.” Stewart also told police that he and Martin took the drug hydrocodone about 30 minutes before the planned break-in, according to the court records.

Senior Marlena Mlynarska said, “I think the shooting is justified because it was a matter of self defense and the protection of her child. She should not be prosecuted for defending herself in her own home.” She states this knowing that if she had a child that she needed to protect or if she was in the same position as McKinley she would have done the same thing. Where as senior Jackson Shimonoff clearly states, “I don’t think it’s ever right to kill someone, well at least me I couldn’t do that.” He thinks if anything he would have aimed somewhere that wouldn’t kill him but could you really aim in a state of panic?

Being 18 and a young mother who recently lost her husband, her actions were justified. She and her newborn were put in serious danger so she did what she felt was right for the two of them. She took the responsibility of calling dispatch and asking them if she has permission to shot the intruders, and with dispatch telling her she couldn’t give her permission she did what any mother would do and saved her childs life.

HOO-RAH

fmontalvo — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:20:17 +0000

The nation celebrated the 235^th Marine Corp birthday, on Nov 10, with cheers of joy. The world we live in today is a free nation because of the men and women who risk their lives for us. There have been, and always will be, controversies on whether the military is a good thing to have.

On Wednesday, Nov 10, there were ceremonies held all over the 50states recognizing the soldiers that have given their lives for their country. Some people feel the expense of the military is a waste of our tax revenue. Chris Shimanoff, a sibling of a student at Le Jardin said, “What is the military doing? Killing? Killing who? I’ll tell you who, poor innocent humans in the middle of this tragic war. We don’t need war!” His view shows one side of how people feel about what the actions of the military. However, there are always two sides of the story. Most Americans say that without the military the U.S. would not be a free nation. Thousands of men and women have sacrificed their lives, and in doing so letting the people be in a free nation. A retired United States Marine Corp Officer Francisco Montalvo said, “Once a Marine, always a Marine and I appreciated all that these brave men and women have done for our world. I salute them, HO-RAH!”

People question the military and their ethics all the time, and are allowed, thanks to the freedom of speech. Christian Riggs a senior at Le Jardin Academy said, “I appreciate what the military does for us, but I feel that there is no reason for us to go and LOOK for war!”

With the argument never ending people will always have their own opinions and ideas about the military. Respect is needed for the thoughts of individuals because everyone is entitled to their own opinion. With 235 years of protection to the United States, we are all blessed to have the service of men and women. Hope is needed to continue for another 235 years for protection and that the United States will continue to be a safe place to live.

APEC AProblem?

U'ilani — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:52:33 +0000

APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Corporation) was only in town for a week, but caused many problems for the residents of Hawai’i. As we welcomed leaders from around the world, our state was thrown into chaos as roads, businesses, and events were put on hold until further notice. The purpose of APEC was to bring together leaders and talk about economics, as well as the economic state of their own nation. Discussions about enhancing human security without their own regions, encouraging technical cooperation, and other investments between the leaders were presented, in order to cause a better sense of trade between the nations at the convention. “I don’t really know exactly what APEC is about, but I hear it’s good for our economy,” said Iolani senior Jaime Rosenberg. Though many residents did not know exactly what was going on behind those closed doors, the affect it had on Hawai’i was enough for anyone to notice.

President Barack Obama arrived in Hawai’i, causing many roads and places to be shut down. This caused a problem for many drivers, but primarily the ones who needed to go to town. Others, mostly the residents in Kailua, felt almost no change at all. “The only way I could tell APEC was here was the news and the smell in the air. It was not a big problem for me. It seemed to be a lot of talk, and not a lot of stuff happening,” said senior Nick Blondeau. Senior Natalie Strong says she did not even notice the convention as well, “The entire thing didn’t really bother me. It’s like it was never really here.” While some took no notice to the change, others had their lives changed in a much more serious way. An innocent life was taken by Christopher W. Deedy, an APEC official. Kollin Eldert was shot inside of a McDonald’s by an APEC security guard. Many residents were troubled by this event, and protested.

With all of the negativity that came along with APEC taking over Hawai’i, we can only hope that whatever happened inside of those doors helps the economy. Because many different topics were talked about between the leaders, the only thing people can do now is wait and see the aftermath of this convention.

Judge Caught Inflicting Injustice

mmlynarska — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:10:59 +0000

Hillary Adams released a video to YouTube of her father, a Texas state court Judge beating her with a belt for seven straight minutes. As a young child Hilary Adams was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, causing her brain function to be slightly impaired. When she was sixteen she downloaded music from the internet. Her actions enraged her father judge William Adams, he claimed she was “stealing” music and decided the proper punishment was to beat his daughter with a belt for seven minutes. Beatings were often administered punishments within the Adams house. Hilary said “I secretly videotaped the beating in my bedroom because I knew something was about to happen.”

In an interview with NBC’s today show Hallie Adams, Hilary’s mother said ” the attack was not a one-off, it did happen regularly for a period of time.” Hilary now 23 recently released the video to YouTube on Oct. 27 because she could not take the abuse anymore. Since the release of the video she has received much support from her community and citizens of the United States. The video has over a million views and continues to entice anger among YouTube viewers. Teacher Fred Weisberger said “This case demonstrates the power of the internet, YouTube in particular. In no time flat millions of people have watched the video.”

Judge Williams continues to claim innocence, Judge Adams told KZTV “In my mind I haven’t done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing.”However some individuals feel Judge Williams is mistaken and ought to take responsibility for his actions. Junior Georgia Havens said “it was pretty horrific that a father could do that to his daughter.”

Judge Williams is an elected officer of the court in Texas. People who were once supporters are now outraged with his choices as a parent and believe he is unfit to be a judge. Senior Mahina Kahalewale said “Judge William is not fit to be a judge or deal with children’s cases.” Weisberger said “I was appalled to see this behavior from anyone let alone a judge.” An investigation was launched against Judge Williams, due to the statue of limitations charges will not be pursued because the beating had occurred in 2004. The ethics board deemed William Adams unfit to rule as a judge in family court. Currently there is a substitute judge presiding over any cases involving children. permanent consequences for the judge have yet to be administered. The outrage created by this video has spread to the point where it cannot be ignored and measures will be taken to ensure justice is achieved.

Horray For Homecoming

lshimmon — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:13:22 +0000

The week of Nov. 6-10 was an exciting one for students at Le Jardin as it was the school’s “Homecoming Week.” Students got to dress up every day of the week with Monday being “wacky tacky day”. People were dressed in outfits that were not supposed to match, or be fashionable. On Tuesday it was “Western Day”, where kids were dressed as cowboys, and there were also Native American costumes. Wednesday was “school spirit day,” where students dressed in their favorite college schools attire and Le Jardin Bulldog attire as well. The last day, Thursday, was “gangstah day”, where people sported baggy pants and doo rags.
Senior Rachel Larsen had the most original outfit for “western day”, as she was a horse. “I just wanted to wear something different because I knew everyone would just be a cowboy. I love horses, and always see them in western type movies so I thought it could work”, said Larsen.
Along with dressing up all week for Homecoming, there was also an annual Homecoming flag football game between the juniors and seniors. This year, the seniors completely outmatched the juniors, winning with a score of 47-12. It was never close, as the seniors got out to a 22-0 lead within the first 15 minutes. The senior victory follows the norm as the seniors have won four out of the last five matchups.
“I was rooting for the juniors of course, and even painted my stomach. Even though we lost, we did amazing and we will no doubt win next year” said junior Tara Rae, who opted not to play for her class. Many students came to support their favorite class. Signs were made, as well as body painted numbers of the students’ favorite players.
On the final night of Homecoming Week, the dance was held. The dance was the night of Nov. 10, at Senor Frogs. Students were delighted with a buffet style food service, as well as dancing, and two mini games. For one of the games three students took part in bobbing for apples, in which junior Nick Whitcomb was victorious. The second was a twinkie eating contest. Only three girls participated. Foreign exchange student Lucia Ongay, a senior, was the quickest to finish all ten twinkies.
Like most high schools around the nation, Le Jardin has an annual Homecoming queen and king. This year seniors Nick Blondeau and Natasha Gourley were awarded king and queen. Both Gourley and Blondeau were excited about winning queen and king and both said it was “the best Homecoming by far.”
“I was actually surprised my name was called because I told everyone to vote for the other candidate Luke Shimmon. It was fun though and I’m glad I got to win with a cool girl like Natasha” said Blondeau.
The Homecoming dance was the first of three dances Le Jardin will hold this year, as the school’s Winter Ball is scheduled for January.

Debris in the Atmosphere

lsussman — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:38:04 +0000

In September of 2011 a six-ton NASA satellite came through the atmosphere and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Space debris is multiplying and multiplying. Is it possible to remove this trash or is it too late? Our atmosphere has turned into a huge dump with exploded debris from spacecrafts. It will take centuries to dispose of all this space junk at the rate this orbital trash is increasing. The United States Space Surveillance Network has tracked 22,000 pieces of trash across the atmosphere in our earth. Objects such as screws, spacecraft paint, and rocket debris are circling the earth. If we are not careful these larger objects of debris have a chance of falling onto the earth.

Some of the people who work at NASA don’t believe that this problem will ever go away and the amount of debris will continue to increase. “The problem is worse now than it was 10 years ago, and in 10 years it will still be worse,” said NASA engineer LeRoy Cain. The National Research Council has found that the way this debris is building up it could cause a “Collision Cascade”. The collision cascade is caused by never ending chains of junk colliding and creating more debris.

If we are not careful about getting rid of the space debris NASA expects one piece of trash to hit earth every day. Unfortunately, people are unaware of these incidents so nothing happens. “I was never aware that space trash was actually able to fall from the sky,” said senior Ian White. There has only been one incident where someone was hit by falling debris. Lottie Williams was walking in Tulsa Park in 1977 when she noticed a fiery streak heading towards her; she then felt a tap of something on her shoulder. “It was around the weight of an empty soda can,” said Williams. The debris that had hit Williams was indeed a part from a Delta II rocket.

So is it possible to remove or cleanup this space junk? The Ecological Society of American Science (ESA) and NASA are putting ideas on the table to overcome this problem. However there has been little progress. There are many suggestions being discussed, one of them is knocking larger objects off collision courses by using lasers. Ryan Rimsinth, our assistant technology director at Le Jardin Academy agrees with this idea “Just shoot up lasers and burn it all,” said Rimsinth. Sadly, even if we had the technology to clean up space, no nation can legally launch a cleanup. “You can’t take, touch, or salvage space objects from another country,” said Joanne Gabrynowicz, a space-law expert at the University of Mississippi. It is unbelievable there are borders even in space that prohibit the clean-up; which is badly needed to improve our earth’s atmosphere.

Amanda Knox Finally Freed in Italy

lshimmon — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:52:49 +0000

On Nov. 1, 2007 Amanda Knox was accused of murder when her flat mate Meredith Kercher was stabbed to death in Perugia, Italy. Knox was the first person to try and contact Kercher after the murder. Knox said, “When she didn’t answer either of her two phones, something was wrong. Her mother was ill at the time of the murder, so she always answered her phone”. (Knox and her boyfriend at the time, Rafaele Sollecito then notified police when Knox had gone home to shower, found blood drops in the bathroom, and windows broken.) When police searched the house, they found Meredith Kercher’s body in the locked bedroom with numerous stab wounds to her neck, money, and credit cards stolen.
Within hours of the findings, Italian police suspected Knox partook in the murder. When she was informed the neighbors were getting questioned about any suspicious activity, Knox broke down in tears. Police officer Edgardo Giobbi reported this as a “guilty conscience”. They also considered Knox’s “hula-hoop motion” she did with her hips when putting on protective shoe covering at the crime scene, an unusual behavior for the circumstance. Knox was then interviewed for over 50 hours through the course of four days.
“I think it’s stupid she even got questioned in the first place because how can they think someone is guilty just from her crying? There was a murder that occurred in her house; of course she is going to be emotional” said senior Christian Riggs. According to police reports, Knox was nuzzling up against her boyfriend in the police station which was also used against her as suspicious behavior.
Knox accused Patrick Lumumba, her boss at the restaurant she worked at, of being the killer as she and he went to their house that night, and she “confusedly” remembers Kercher screaming. At first, Knox claimed she didn’t go home that night. She was arrested that morning on Nov. 6. Within hours, Knox withdrew the statement she said about Lumumba committing the murder. “In regards to this ‘confession’ that I made last night, I want to make clear that I’m very doubtful of the verity of my statements because they were made under the pressures of stress, shock and extreme exhaustion. Not only was I told I would be arrested and put in jail for 30 years, but I was also hit in the head when I didn’t remember a fact correctly,” Amanda Knox said, in a four page paper submitted to the court.
Amanda Knox and Rafaele Sollecito were charged with sexual assault and murder in Oct 2008. The two opted for a full trial which started on Jan 16, 2009. Court officials used evidence from Filomena Romanelli, Amanda’s other flat mate. Romanelli stated that Knox’s behavior the morning after was “inexplicable”. She also contradicted one of Knox’s statements that said Kercher “sometimes” left her door unlocked, whereas Romanelli states that she “always” left it unlocked. Knox was sentence to 26 years in prison, with nine months of solitary confinement.
“I couldn’t believe the fact that they found her guilty in the first place. There was no hard evidence that she committed the crime, and the evidence that they did use was ridiculous.” said senior Andrew Carmody.
There was, in fact, some hard evidence. A man named Rudy Guede’s DNA was found inside and outside of the body of Kercher, and his finger prints were found in many different spots at the crime scene. None of Knox’s DNA was found at the scene. However, prosecutors continued to propose motives of why Knox committed the murder. One alleged motive was that she needed money to pay Guede back for drugs, and that she killed Kercher in a Marijuana fueled rage, and that’s why Kercher’s money and credit cards were missing.
Both Knox and Sollecito appealed the court ruling. During the appeal in November of 2010, forensic DNA experts Stefano Conti and Carla Vecchiotti submitted a 145 page report that had the numerous errors in gather and analyzing evidence in the crime. In the second appeal, police video showed that when the most important piece of evidence was gathered, the glove they used was “visibly dirty”. On Oct 3, 2011 Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito’s convictions were all overturned. The only thing that was not overturned was Knox’s offense for lying about Lumumba being the one who committed the murder.
This murder case received so much publicity, especially in Italy and England, because of its failure to present facts for the case accurately and “dispassionately”. It contributed greatly to very false accusations of two innocent people. Also, during Knox’s prison time, she was lied to about many different things. Police told her she was infected with the HIV virus, and demanded she give out her sexual history. All of these things were made public, and were very embarrassing and upsetting to Knox. She returned home immediately following the overturning, supporters cheered as she arrived. Amanda Knox is weighing options for a “60 minutes” interview that would go in depth about her four year trial and stay in Italy. Today, Knox is still with her parents as she continues to try and move on and get past this tragedy that has ruined four years of her life.

Bulldog Bash Becomes a Hit!

U'ilani — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:33:07 +0000

With all the stress of homework and extracurricular activities students have to deal with, a nice and fun little break was well earned. Le Jardin Academy hosted the very first Bulldog Bash on Oct. 7, which was open to the entire high school from 6pm-9pm. Students could come to school and enjoy multiple activities with friends. There were games for both land sports and water sports, such as basketball and volleyball in the gymnasium, and water polo in the pool. Students could watch Fast 5 in the MPR while eating popcorn or play flashlight tag on the soccer field.

With such short notice, it was shocking at how many students attended the bash. Students enjoyed walking around and participating in different activities spread out over the campus. Senior Andrew Carmody thinks that more students will come next time, seeing as how this bash such a success. Aside from the multiple games students could play, there was also free food for everyone to enjoy. Games and free food? Who wouldn’t love that? “There was a lot of food, so I ate!”, said Carmody. Other students, such as Senior Lauren Barina, said, “I spent my night watching my classmates sing karaoke in the gym. It was fun!” Barina said that more students would show up if they were given more notice. “They should also get more activities for the students. What they had was fun, but we should have more also,” added Barina. All of the on-land sports were on the upper-campus by the gym and field, but down by the MPR students were having their own little party. What started out as a small dance party in the MPR, later turned into a movie theater, where Fast 5 played for students. Junior Kai Simmons, spent most of his night in the water however. “I went swimming and played water polo in the pool. It was fun! This is a fun night,” said Simmons.

All in all, the first annual Bulldog Bash was a success. It was a nice way for students of all ages to come together. “I think it’s best that it’s the whole high school since there’s not many people in our school anyway,” said Carmody. Next year is sure to be even more of a success with the reaction students gave this year. The school plans to have this event every quarter, so be sure to stop on by! If you have any suggestions as to what activities you would like to see at the next bash, be sure to contact Ms. Do.

Wall Street Occupied

jshimanoff — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:22:02 +0000

Throughout the world’s history, protesting has always appealed to those who felt it was needed. Today, during the financial crisis, the number of Americans unemployed, and those who feel that they are underpaid, is angry at the corporations and rich. These people are average American citizens. The protesting has begun in New York and spread. Started in mid September and going through till November, the protesting continues.

Occupy Wall Street started a series of demonstration in New York City on the Wall Street financial district. The protests were started by the Canadian activist group “Adbusters”. The purpose of these protests are social and economic inequality, corporate greed, corporate power and influence over government. “It’s ridiculous,” said Senior Andrew Carmody at Le Jardin Academy. “It’s about time the people started protesting against the rich, and the people who control everything. A face book group should have been made for Occupy Honolulu.”

While the heart of this protest is in New York, every major city has its own “occupation”. Chris Shimanoff, Senior at University of Hawaii stated “I went down for the protest, but there was no more than a good 28 people.” It is quite under publicized and this activist protest is leaderless.

Many young adolescents do not know about these protests or don’t care about it one bit. “Yeah I heard about it. No idea what it’s about, and don’t really care to find out,” said senior Christian Riggs. “No one knows about it, no one cares, and honestly we should learn about it in school, this could cause a revolution and for once the people can make a change,” said Carmody.

These protests have made world news. What started as Fox News making fun of a bunch of hippies protesting against the corporations, to what is now known as the world wide phenomenon in America? Will change truly come from this? Will the government listen to the people’s protest? Or will once again the people prove to be powerless. Only time will tell for the occupation of Wall Street.

Good Tax or Bad Trash? Cain’s Tax Plan Proposed

sphillipson — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:59:54 +0000

With the current economy’s downturn and struggle, Herman Cain, a presidential candidate for the upcoming 2012 election proposes a new tax plan to reverse the economic situation. With Cain’s new “9-9-9 Plan” a 9% business flat tax, 9% individual flat tax, and 9% national sales tax will be put in place as the nations new tax system. This new tax plan will have a major impact on businesses and citizens which puts many individuals in a rough situation when choosing their candidate.

According to former Reagan Treasury official Gary Robbins, of Fiscal Associates, the 9-9-9 plan will enable the expansion of GDP to grow by $2 trillion, create 6 million new job opportunities, increase business investment by one third, and increase wages by 10%. Senior Mahea Schuman of Le Jardin Academy said “I think the tax plan is an overall good idea. It will help bring the economy back to a healthy state.” While Shuman agrees with the new tax plan others stand in opposition. Junior Jamie Ciletti said, “The new tax plan will only make it harder for the people struggling in the economy to survive. Raising taxes will raise prices of necessary goods by a whole nine percent and leave even more people in an even worse situation then they’re in now.” Cain’s tax plan will remove all payroll taxes and unite all tax payers in a simple and efficient manner but many fear the hidden consequences of instating the policy in such a harsh economical time.

Cain’s new plan shows evidence for the dismissal of class warfare. By providing a simple 9% tax for all business, sales, and individual tax the loopholes of the current tax system will be diminished. This leaves fair grounds for all levels of society rather than leaving benefits to the rich, poor, or middle class. Senior Sammy Gabrelsick said, “I think the new plan will be good because it will be fair for everyone and everybody will have to follow the same simple guidelines. Because it’s such a simple plan everyone will be treated fairly.”

Despite the seen and un-foreseen consequences of the new proposed tax policy, the pro-growth, pro-job, and pro-export of economic policies is estimated to increase the economy’s overall well being by an amazing percentage and boost opportunities throughout the country by an amazing amount. The policy leaves many Americans with a decision that will change the economy in a big way whether the effect is good or bad.