LIVINGSTON, Mont. (Oct. 25) - A high school principal received a six-day suspension and a letter of reprimand for giving one of his students a wedgie.
Eric Messerli pulled a Park High School senior's soccer jersey over his head and yanked upward on the waistband of the boy's underwear at a soccer game Oct. 5. Other school officials said he was joking around with the student and did it playfully. He was suspended for two days without pay and four days with pay before the school board decided Monday to let him return.
He tearfully told the board: "I've made mistakes in my life, but none have had the impact that this one has had." Messerli, who was back on the job Tuesday, will be required to talk with students and staff members about the incident to restore respect and authority. He said his first reaction was to resign, but he decided to "tackle this mess" head on.
"I want to live in a world where we don't have to hide when we screw up," he said.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Divide and Concord
The man next to me on the metro today had a big bunch of flowers in his hand, a nervous look on his face, and kept dialing the same phone number over and over. No answer. I hope she forgives him.
It appears that we have a mere month left here in Italy. Where does the time go? Sunk into classes, tests, tours, sleep, and train trips, I suppose. Speaking of, I need to get a train ticket. I also need to study for a quiz on a Ratzinger article (yay!! intellectual/theological works that are actually accessible to the average mind), and study for a history/english/theology/classics exam. Whadda class...four subjects in one. Oh, and also an acting class. Monday was "act out a scene from this book that Thomas Bowdler thought racy enough to merit expurgating" day.
We the story of the rape of Semele, but we did it politically-correct style. I didn't think it was that funny, really, but the class sure did. If I feel like embarassing myself to death, I might post the text next week.
It appears that we have a mere month left here in Italy. Where does the time go? Sunk into classes, tests, tours, sleep, and train trips, I suppose. Speaking of, I need to get a train ticket. I also need to study for a quiz on a Ratzinger article (yay!! intellectual/theological works that are actually accessible to the average mind), and study for a history/english/theology/classics exam. Whadda class...four subjects in one. Oh, and also an acting class. Monday was "act out a scene from this book that Thomas Bowdler thought racy enough to merit expurgating" day.
We the story of the rape of Semele, but we did it politically-correct style. I didn't think it was that funny, really, but the class sure did. If I feel like embarassing myself to death, I might post the text next week.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Subway Crash in Rome (from Tuesday)
As far as we can tell, Laura and I were actually on this train--we got off the stop before the crash, and switched lines. Later, they changed the news report to say that two people actually died, one at the scene and one later at the hospital. Jesus saves!
ROME — A subway train plowed into another during morning rush hour Tuesday in a central Rome station, killing a woman and injuring about 60 others, authorities said.
One train was stopped in the station when it was hit from behind by another traveling at a high speed, said Atac, Rome's public transport company. Some passengers said the driver of the second train appeared to have run a red light.
The fire department initially said a woman and the driver of one of the trains were killed, but government officials later said only the woman died. The driver, a man, was pulled out alive from the rubble, officials said. Italian news reports had said the woman was Nigerian, but the officials later said she was an Italian in her 30s.
About 60 people were injured, including 10 seriously, said another fire department spokesman, Luca Cari. He said the moving train plowed 6-to-10 feet into the carriage of the stopped one.
Television footage showed stunned and bloodied passengers being led out of the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II station, while onlookers watched from behind police lines.
Ambulances, firefighters and rescue teams rushed to the subway station, near Rome's main railway station, following the 9 a.m. crash. Rescue workers set up a field hospital nearby, where they treated dozens with light injuries.
Firefighters were trying to free at least one more person trapped in the wreckage, Cari said.
"For now, we don't know about any more people trapped, but we can't rule it out," Cari said. "We are untangling the two trains."
Andrew Trovaioli, a 38-year-old passenger, said one of the trains appeared to have missed a stop light.
"I saw the red light as the train moved into the station," Trovaioli said, who suffered a slight injury to his elbow.
"I saw lots of blood, the impact was brutal," he said, adding he saw about 10 people lying on the ground, and three or four covered in rubble.
"There was panic for some 30 seconds. We were not told how to get out," he said.
One passenger told Sky Italia that lights went out immediately after the crash. Another passenger in the first carriage of the moving train said he could see through the driver's front window as the accident unfolded.
"I saw clearly the red light. I saw the situation, that the metro ahead of us was stopped at the station," said the unidentified passenger, adding that he managed to escape serious injury because he stepped back just seconds before the impact crushed the front of his car.
The cause of the accident was not known. Atac said the station remained closed but the rest of the line was working.
ROME — A subway train plowed into another during morning rush hour Tuesday in a central Rome station, killing a woman and injuring about 60 others, authorities said.
One train was stopped in the station when it was hit from behind by another traveling at a high speed, said Atac, Rome's public transport company. Some passengers said the driver of the second train appeared to have run a red light.
The fire department initially said a woman and the driver of one of the trains were killed, but government officials later said only the woman died. The driver, a man, was pulled out alive from the rubble, officials said. Italian news reports had said the woman was Nigerian, but the officials later said she was an Italian in her 30s.
About 60 people were injured, including 10 seriously, said another fire department spokesman, Luca Cari. He said the moving train plowed 6-to-10 feet into the carriage of the stopped one.
Television footage showed stunned and bloodied passengers being led out of the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II station, while onlookers watched from behind police lines.
Ambulances, firefighters and rescue teams rushed to the subway station, near Rome's main railway station, following the 9 a.m. crash. Rescue workers set up a field hospital nearby, where they treated dozens with light injuries.
Firefighters were trying to free at least one more person trapped in the wreckage, Cari said.
"For now, we don't know about any more people trapped, but we can't rule it out," Cari said. "We are untangling the two trains."
Andrew Trovaioli, a 38-year-old passenger, said one of the trains appeared to have missed a stop light.
"I saw the red light as the train moved into the station," Trovaioli said, who suffered a slight injury to his elbow.
"I saw lots of blood, the impact was brutal," he said, adding he saw about 10 people lying on the ground, and three or four covered in rubble.
"There was panic for some 30 seconds. We were not told how to get out," he said.
One passenger told Sky Italia that lights went out immediately after the crash. Another passenger in the first carriage of the moving train said he could see through the driver's front window as the accident unfolded.
"I saw clearly the red light. I saw the situation, that the metro ahead of us was stopped at the station," said the unidentified passenger, adding that he managed to escape serious injury because he stepped back just seconds before the impact crushed the front of his car.
The cause of the accident was not known. Atac said the station remained closed but the rest of the line was working.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Wow.
You guys are so patient. Here a new blog has not been forthcoming in weeks, yet you check back.
Since we last spoke, I have seen Assissi, Siena, Florence, Naples, Pompeii, Pisa, Roccasecca, and the island of Ischia. Things are great, but so ruddy hectic I barely find time to do homework and email my family. My friends all think I have fallen off the face of the earth. There are no apostrophes on Italian keyboards. I have been awake for 14 hours and have eaten nothing but two apples, half a bag of potato chips, and some Reeses Pieces.
I need food.
Since we last spoke, I have seen Assissi, Siena, Florence, Naples, Pompeii, Pisa, Roccasecca, and the island of Ischia. Things are great, but so ruddy hectic I barely find time to do homework and email my family. My friends all think I have fallen off the face of the earth. There are no apostrophes on Italian keyboards. I have been awake for 14 hours and have eaten nothing but two apples, half a bag of potato chips, and some Reeses Pieces.
I need food.
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