The James Logan Courier

By Michael Doyle And Dave Montgomery
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

WASHINGTON — A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Constitution protects an individual's right to bear arms, while leaving room for governments to regulate gun ownership.

By 5-4, the court struck down the District of Columbia's strict gun ban as an infringement on fundamental rights. The court's historic ruling reinterprets the Second Amendment for the first time in nearly 70 years, foreshadowing new challenges to local, state and federal gun laws.

From The Courier's archives:

By Bruce Siceloff
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

RALEIGH, N.C. — Lauren Wooten and her Mustang have been in demand since she started driving this spring.

"It's 'Oh, let's ride with Lauren — she has her license now,'" said Wooten, 16, a Clayton High School sophomore. "I find myself taking people places, and I'm usually the one driving."

She won't ask friends to help buy gas, she said, "because I would feel rude."

By David Lightman
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

WASHINGTON — President Bush proposed Wednesday to allow drilling off U. S. coastlines as part of a plan to boost oil supplies, but his plan is likely to go nowhere because of a reluctant Democratic-majority Congress, which fears environmental costs.

Even if U.S. coastal waters were opened to exploration, experts agree that it would take at least seven and probably 10 years before any benefits were apparent.

Bush talked tough, saying "our nation must produce more oil, and we must start now." He said that expanding drilling offshore could produce enough oil to "match America's current oil production for 10 years."

By Christina Hernandez
Newsday (MCT)

MELVILLE, N.Y. — What Ethan Mirenberg, 15, thought was a harmless gesture landed him a lengthy suspension. Now, the noogie he allegedly gave his former teacher earlier this school year is making its way through the courts.

The boy's father, Bill Mirenberg, plans to appeal a New York State Supreme Court judge's April decision that allowed the school district's punishment, a 10-month suspension, to stand.

While Ethan, a 14-year-old freshman at Lynbrook High School when the incident occurred in November, will likely be back in school before an appellate decision, his attorney said the appeal is meant to vindicate the boy — who denies the noogie — and pave the way for further legal action.

By Rick LaPlante, New Haven Schools Public Information Officer

The Board of Education on Tuesday night adopted the 2008-09 budget and approved multi-year projections through 2011.

The $104.4 million budget reflects $7.7 million in cuts from 2007-08, a product of Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposal to slash state spending for education following his January declaration of a fiscal emergency. Although the governor’s May revise is much more favorable to education than was his January proposal, Chief Business Officer Carol Gregorich told the Board, an intense budget debate under way in the Legislature makes it unlikely there will be a resolution until late summer or fall. In the absence of concrete numbers, and because school budgets must be submitted before July 1, Ms. Gregorich said, she took a conservative approach in crafting the budget.

By Tim Simmons
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

RALEIGH, N.C. — Bad news for teens still looking for work this summer: The national market is horrible — the worst in 60 years, according to one annual accounting.

"We probably get at least 100 applications a week," said Lori Allred, operator of the Chick-fil-A at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh. "I don't hire anyone who is only available for the summer."

Even in a bad market, thousands of teenagers will be found running cash registers, guarding pools, stocking shelves and doing countless other jobs this summer.

But thousands won't be working at all, and part-timers will probably get squeezed.

By Vanessa Colon
McClatchy Newspaper (MCT)

FRESNO, Calif. — Arthur Mkoyan, the Bullard High School valedictorian who may be deported to Armenia this month, is counting on letters of support from across the state and nation to help him.

Arthur, 17, of Fresno, Calif., pleaded to classmates, friends and teachers at his hometown Bullard High School on Friday to write letters to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein encouraging her to introduce legislation that would enable him and his parents to stay in the United States.

Friday was his last day of class at the school. Arthur will graduate Tuesday at the Save Mart Center.

By Rick LaPlante, New Haven Schools Public Information Officer

UNION CITY – Penny Loetterle, principal of an Orinda elementary school that was named a 2008 California Distinguished School, and Heidi Green, who runs the largest high school in Oakland, will join the New Haven Unified School District as principals of Eastin and Emanuele elementary schools, respectively, pending approval Tuesday night by the Board of Education.

“A principal’s primary role has to be that of the instructional leader at his or her school, and we have found two wonderful instructional leaders in Penny and Heidi,” Superintendent Dr. Pat Jaurequi said. “Not only that, I believe we have found two principals with backgrounds and experiences that make them exceptionally good fits for their schools.”

By Bethany Stringer, Courier Publications Editor

Saturday morning's graduation ceremony in the Judson E. Taylor stadium will be a time to celebrate completing high school and for one student it means being recognized as the top of the class. This year, that student is Carlin Truong.

For the past four years at Logan, he has worked hard to get to where he is today. He has taken a total of nine AP classes, is the ambassador for the James Logan Jazz Chior, co-founded the James Logan Origami club participated in varsity track for 2 years, provided tutoring for athletes in the morning at Logan and is a member of a choir outside of school and an a cappella group. His GPA as of third quarter was a 4.82.

By Kurt Achin, VOA News

North Korea has publicly declared its commitment to battling terrorism, in a move apparently aimed at hastening its removal from a U.S. list of terror sponsoring nations. With talks to end North Korea's nuclear-weapons capabilities expected to resume soon, Pyongyang has also pledged to curb nuclear proliferation.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry issued a statement promising to "firmly maintain its consistent stand of opposing all forms of terrorism."

By Wailin Wong
Chicago Tribune (MCT)

CHICAGO — Verizon Wireless' plans to buy regional carrier Alltel Corp. in a $28.1 billion deal has some telecom industry observers questioning whether other smaller regional wireless operators could soon be snatched up by larger players.

With subscriber increases reaching a plateau, acquiring smaller operators is one of the main ways bigger carriers can keep growing as they battle for new customers. Intense competition already prompted major companies to introduce flat-rate, unlimited-service plans within days of each other earlier this year, and the carriers also are eagerly pushing data services that make use of their more advanced networks.

By Karen Mui, Courier Staff Writer

As the 2007‑2008 school year draws to a close, and many are celebrating the graduations of Logan’s seniors, there are still many, unfortunately, who will not be able to share the same joy. Instead, many of these will be studying hard for the next California High School Exit Exam in hopes for another chance to receive their high school diplomas.

For the Class of 2008, 54 of the students have not yet passed the English portion of the CAHSEE, while 54 have not passed the Math. For the juniors, 112 students are not passing both the English and the Math section. The sophomores, who have recently taken the exam for the first time, have about 173 who have yet to pass the English portion, and 213 for Math. Around 40 of the total students unable to pass the exam are actually exempt from the test because they are not on diploma tracks. 10th graders have one opportunity to take the test, 11th graders have two, and 12th graders have three before graduation.

By Mark Silva
Chicago Tribune (MCT)

WASHINGTON — In their age, experience, race, faith in the power of government and views of a complex world, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain offer American voters one of the sharpest contrasts in candidates for the presidency in modern times, at least on a par with the Johnson-Goldwater and Reagan-Mondale elections.

The 2008 presidential campaign, without an incumbent president or vice president in the race, will play out against a backdrop of deep restiveness, polling shows, with the public overwhelmingly dismayed about the direction the nation is taking.

By Alexa Chavez, Courier Staff Writer

James Logan's MECHA held their 10th annual Raza Graduation celebrating Latino students who are graduating this year Wednesday with Aztec danzantes blessing the stage for the graduates, performances by Ballet Folklorico, forensics student Corey Gomes, plus guest speakers, and scholarship awards.

The banquet, now in its tenth year at Logan, honors the two hundred plus Latino graduates from this year's class. Statistically, Latinos, along with African-Americans, have the lowest graduating rates - which is one of the reasons why counselor Jaime Huertas and ethnic studies teacher Gabriela Esquivez feel it is necessary to hold this event.

By Cameron Lacson, Courier Staff Writer

Most of the James Logan High School yearbooks for the 2007-2008 school year have been distributed after the book debuted June 2. For the second consecutive year, the yearbook will all be in color.

The sales began back in the beginning of the school year where they were sixty-five dollars. Prices then rose in October to $70. As the year progressed, the price increased to $80 and finally to $90 in May.

“Prices had to keep raising to encourage students to purchase their books earlier,” said yearbook staff member, senior Gino Lorico.

By Jennifer Torres, Courier Staff Writer

On May 12, a 7.9 earthquake rocked the southwestern province of Sichuan China. This major earthquake devastated the area leaving thousands either dead or missing. This new earthquake named the Wenchuan earthquake, after the city in which the epicenter was located, has left about 4.8 million people homeless. The statistics confirmed as of June 1st state that there are approximately 69,016 dead, 385,545 injured, and 18,830 missing. This earthquake is the most devastating earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake.

Roughly 7,000 miles away, here at James Logan, two students took it upon themselves to help raise money toward relief efforts. Juniors Suzanne Wu and Jane Tian felt that they needed to get the Logan community involved. So they wrote Logan Principal Don Montoya an email entailing their plan to raise money for the victims in China. They devised a drive in which all the money raised would be donated to the Red Cross to be used as needed in China.

By Anne Chen, Courier Editor-in-Chief

A presentation of “The Lost Boys of Liberia” will take place in the Little Theatre this Thursday from 3:30 to 5:15 PM. It is a free eventwhere Logan alumni Candice Nguyen will be sharing her experiences from her volunteer work in Africa.

For six months Candice was in Ghana, a country in West Africa, teaching ex-child soldiers public speaking. The classes encouraged them to speak out against the everyday injustices that are going mostly unnoticed by the international community. Over 20 countries have used children as direct participants in armed conflict. Many adolescents are forced to wield weapons and are under constant gunfire. According to Human Rights Watch, approximately 200,000 to 300,000 children are currently serving as child soldiers.

By Rick LaPlante, New Haven Schools Public Information Officer

The Board of Education on Tuesday night heard an assessment of the implementation of District-wide instructional initiatives this year, featuring a presentation by Eastin Elementary kindergarten teacher Sarita Chawla and one of her students. Young Ameerah Hameed showed the Board a progression of her writing that demonstrated the improvement she has made as Ms. Chawla’s students have “published” their work as part of Writing Workshop.

By Rick LaPlante, New Haven Schools Public Information Officer

Judy Billingsley, who engineered a dramatic improvement in student achievement during the past three years as a high school principal in Sacramento, was appointed Tuesday night by the Board of Education to serve as the new principal of James Logan High School, effective July 1.

“When the folks on our hiring team were reviewing candidates, I kept hearing that we had several good ones but that one in particular was fantastic,” New Haven Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Pat Jaurequi said. “When I met Judy, I understood why everyone was so excited. She’s the right person, at the right time, committed to doing the right work.”

By Rick LaPlante, New Haven Schools Public Information Officer

Lynne Thomson of Alvarado Middle School has been selected as the New Haven Unified School District’s Teacher of the Year for 2008-09, it was announced Tuesday night before the Board of Education. Sue Hollman of Barnard-White Middle School was named Classified Employee of the Year.

By Krystal Henderson, Courier News Editor

Eighty percent of cancer patients that need a bone marrow transplant never find a donor match. Only 30% of patients in need find a suitable match within their family. The chance of a patient finding an unrelated donor match is as great as 1 in 1 million.

Two weeks ago, Eleventh Grader Supada Sritanyaratana requested a bone marrow registration drive at Logan. “My family friend, Michelle Maykin, has leukemia and she just relapsed early.” Michelle is 26 years old and has acute myeloid leukemia. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy, but needs to find a bone marrow donor match by June 21.

By Anne Chen, Courier Editor-in-Chief

Youth from all over the Bay Area joined at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton to learn about human rights violations at the African Human Rights Conference Saturday. The event was hosted by Amador’s Amnesty International Club and focused on ways to address problems such as genocide, disease and poverty that are rampant in Africa.

The main goal of the conference was to empower youth with the knowledge they need to generate meaningful change in their communities. The high school club itself was started this year but has already reigned in much student and outside support. Amnesty International, a worldwide organization dedicated to improving human rights for all, funded Saturday’s conference through a grant.

By Howard Mintz
San Jose Mercury News (MCT)

Just two weeks after finding California's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, the state Supreme Court on Wednesday found itself thrust back into a legal conflict over gay rights.

This time, the justices were tackling a collision between religious freedoms and strict state and federal anti-discrimination laws in a case involving a doctor's right to deny infertility treatment to a gay couple based on religious views about same-sex relationships.