More than a million American men are investing their love, time, and money in a child who isn't their own. But the worst part about this betrayal? How many people may be in on it
Patrick Connaro, a 42-year-old robotics engineer living in Colorado Springs, was sitting in the bleachers one warm Saturday afternoon in 2003, watching his son's Little League game, when the ground opened beneath him.
"My little boy was there, he was up at bat, and I started yelling for him, 'Go Matthew [not his real name]! Knock it out of the park!' And another man started screaming for Matthew. Louder than me. I looked over, and I looked at him, and I was like, Who is this guy? And I looked at my son, and I looked at him … and they were identical."
After the ball game, Connaro ordered a paternity test. The results came back 2 weeks later. "I opened up the letter from Labcorp, and it said, ' … 99.9 percent chance you are not the biological father of this child.' I started crying. My head started spinning."
Connaro admits that the possibility had crossed his mind before, given his son's dissimilar facial features, but each time he questioned his wife about it, she vehemently denied the suggestion. Even when he showed her the test results, she still denied it. "She said, 'You forged this,' " Connaro recalls, shaking his head in amazement.
To this day he remembers that game with a kind of nightmarish clarity. Matthew struck out. Connaro had planned on going over and giving him a hug, along with a few words of fatherly consolation, but when he heard the other guy yelling, he just stood up and walked away.
"I was so disillusioned, I just didn't know what to say. It was horrible. I don't think anybody could experience what I experienced there."
Some call this paternity fraud. But a more accurate term is "paternal discrepancy." Paternity fraud emphasizes the financial aspect of the phenomenon, but paternal discrepancy (PD) describes the anomaly itself—the disconnect between what men think is true and the genetic reality. And research shows that it's a lot more common than we might believe.
After recently reviewing 67 studies on the subject, University of Oklahoma researchers found that PD rates tend to be much higher among men who have reason to believe there's been more than one dog in the yard. No surprise there. But leave out these men and you end up with a number that can safely be assumed to represent the rest of us. That number is 3.85 percent. Another review of 19 studies by a group at Liverpool John Moores University backs this up, putting the figure at 3.7 percent of dads. It may not seem like a lot—until you do the math. According to a 2005 U.S. Census Bureau report, there are 27,940,000 fathers nationwide with a child under 18. That means over a million guys out there are taking care of some other man's kid.
Compared with this, infidelity by itself is a mere white lie, a misdemeanor, maybe even forgivable. But this … this lie unravels years of commitment in a single stroke. Does forgiveness even apply here?
There are those who believe that biology shouldn't make a difference, that fatherhood is just a social construct. Connaro himself refuses to let genetics stand between him and his son. "I'm the only man that he knows as his dad," he says. "Why should I lose that bond and that love?"
Many men in Connaro's position might not feel the same way. Studies show that evolution has designed men to care deeply about who their children are. In 2003, for instance, researchers at the State University of New York at Albany recruited 20 men and 20 women, then morphed their facial features with photographs of children. Subsequent testing showed that the women responded equally to photos of kids whose faces resembled theirs and those that resembled the faces of strangers. The men, on the other hand, reacted far more positively to children whose faces resembled their own.
"It's not reproductively beneficial to invest all your resources in a child who is not carrying on your genetic line," says study author Rebecca Burch, Ph.D. "Men throughout the history of the species who have invested all their time and energy in children who weren't theirs no longer have genes in the population."
They are, in other words, extinct.
When the stakes are this high, there is no greater deception than PD. It's a lie that reaches right down to your chromosomes, and when the truth finally comes out, the revelation can be devastating.
Seven years ago, on an otherwise idyllic summer Saturday afternoon, Tony Winbush, 34, was throwing a football with his 5-year-old son in the backyard of his home in Tallahassee, Florida, when he discovered he was not the child's father. The boy himself told Winbush.
"He said, 'My mom told me that I have two dads.' I said, 'Son, you can't have but one dad. I'm the only dad you've got.' He said, 'That's what my mama told me—I have two.' " Within a month, the family ceased to exist. "It got to a point," says Winbush, "where it bothered me so bad, I had to seek psychiatric help."
But while men may be the primary victims of PD, women aren't the only villains. Paternal discrepancy makes liars of everyone, and that includes the people from whom we'd most expect the truth.
Morgan Wise, a 44-year-old train engineer from Big Spring, Texas, might have remained ignorant forever if his fourth child hadn't been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF). Presumed to be a carrier of the CF gene, Wise had his own DNA tested to identify which of the many gene mutations of the disease the boy had inherited. (There are more than 1,000.) The test revealed that Wise was not a carrier, which could only mean one thing: This was not his child.
"I nearly fell out of my chair," Wise says, recalling his doctor giving him the news. "I said, 'What are you getting at?' And he told me, 'Morgan, you're not the first, and you won't be the last.' "
Men rely on their doctors to level with them when things are dire. The steady stare, the hand on the shoulder … breaking bad news is their business. And yet, Wise's doctor is actually the exception to the rule. The fact is, the overwhelming majority of physicians will not tell a man the truth about PD.
"Most doctors are going to say to themselves, Jeez, I don't want to cause a problem in this family by disclosing this information that I just stumbled across," says Alan Meisel, J.D., director of the Center for Bioethics and Health Law at the University of Pittsburgh. "Why create problems if I don't have to?"
Being lied to once is bad enough, but this second betrayal can bring a man to his knees. If you can't trust your doctor, whom can you trust?
"If the father asked me point-blank, 'Is this my son, my biological son? Can you tell by the tests?' I would have to tell him the truth," says Mikel Prieto, M.D., a kidney-transplant surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "Would I volunteer that information if it did not come up in the conversation, and did not affect what we were going to do? Probably I wouldn't."
Just 6 months after making this statement, Dr. Prieto said he had changed his mind. "Now, as a general rule, our group favors full disclosure of paternity issues."
Genuine or not, it's an ethical 180 that more doctors need to make, especially when you factor in the potential medical consequences of staying silent. If a child is born with a genetic disorder, like cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy, the father may end up mistakenly believing he carries the gene for that disorder. If that father has siblings, this misinformation could affect their decision to have children. Children, on the other hand, may grow up not knowing they carry a high genetic risk of a particular disease, such as depression, diabetes, or cancer. These days, with the growing role that genetics plays in our health outlook, knowing the identity of your biological father can be as important as knowing your blood type. One day it might save your life.
But most doctors simply don't find such risks to be as compelling as the risk of disrupting the family, which to them would violate the most basic rule of medicine: Do no harm. From day 1 of medical school, this rule is pounded into doctors' heads, and they won't break it easily.
You have to go back to a 1983 report by a presidential commission on ethics in medicine to find anything contradicting the "Don't tell" policy. "At that time, we always thought more information was better," says Lori Andrews, J.D., a professor at Chicago Kent College of Law and the lead author of a 1994 report for the Institute of Medicine arguing against disclosure. "Since then, I think the whole societal approach to genetic information has changed."
For instance, when scientists created the test for Huntington's disease, an inherited neurological disorder for which there is no cure, it was assumed that everyone would want to know whether or not they were going to develop the condition. "But only about 15 percent of the people at risk had any interest," says Andrews, "because they would rather live with hope than actually know their genetic future." Doctors today, she suggests, may have taken a lesson from this and no longer assume that if they stumble across PD, a patient wants to be informed: i.e., "Do no harm."
The available evidence, however, suggests otherwise. Several reports on organ-transplant cases show that some families not only survive the disclosure of PD but often thank doctors for their decision to disclose. "The donor and the recipient were both adamant that we did the right thing in informing them of the result," one group of researchers writes in the Journal of Urology, "and felt that it should always be done."
Even so, there are doctors who counter that disclosing paternity isn't in their job description. "They're not having paternity testing. They're having histological [tissue] testing," says Jeff Punch, M.D., director of the University of Michigan transplant center. "The two are one and the same from a practical standpoint. But from a relationship point of view, patients are paying us for a transplant typing, not for paternity testing."
Patient confidentiality is the second reason physicians cite as the reason they remain silent, with part of the problem being how they define the "patient." With Huntington's, it's pretty clear. Less so with PD.
Doctors determine who's the patient by two criteria: who came to see them, and who is most at risk of immediate harm. If a mother visits a doctor alone, then she's the patient, and it's easier for the doctor to justify disclosing PD only to her than if she showed up with her partner. The second criterion is more complicated. In the past 20 years, says Arthur Caplan, Ph.D., a professor at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, controversy surrounding reproductive technology has led to the view that the most vulnerable person is the child.
For example, battles over who the "real parent" is when you had a surrogate mother who changed her mind turned on how the outcome would affect the child. And, says Caplan, even fights about how old is too old for in vitro fertilization inevitably boiled down to one question: "Is it really in the best interest of the kid?"
As attention shifted to the well-being of children, they increasingly came to be regarded as the primary patient whenever disclosure entailed some risk of family disruption. But what is this risk?
Kids may be able to accept a nonbiological parent, says Robert Butterworth, Ph.D., a child psychologist in Los Angeles who sees PD cases every year. What they can't accept is finding out that they've been lied to, after a lifetime of hearing that lying is wrong. "Children are very good at pointing out when their parents are hypocrites," Butterworth says. "So the sense of betrayal can lead to anger and disruption. They may withdraw from both parents, the nonbiological as well as the one who lied."
Still, those who oppose disclosure of PD claim that at the very least, the mother will suffer, and that this will indirectly affect the child. "It's a family-values rationale," says Mary Mahowald, Ph.D., a professor emerita at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, in Chicago. "It's likely to break up a marriage if it's disclosed, or the woman might be battered as a result." Such are the arguments, says Mahowald, that have been given over the years. Whether or not that fear is justified, of course, is another story.
"The literature documenting the possibility or probability of a family breaking up or the battering of women is really not good," says Mahowald, "and you could make the argument that if partners are going to separate on grounds of disclosure, maybe they should separate regardless. It might be better for the family. So, to my mind, the family-values rationale is questionable."
It was a cold day in Michigan in February 2002, Shane Shamie remembers. His marriage had fallen apart a few years earlier, and he was still trying to pull his life together. His main concern was his 12-year-old daughter, a tall, awkward child who had become withdrawn after the divorce. When she came over on weekends, they'd hang out and watch a game on TV, or just talk. The idea, says Shamie, was to get her to open up a little. And in time she did—by posing a question Shamie had always somehow managed to avoid asking himself.
"Why does everybody in the family have blue eyes and I have brown eyes?"
Shamie reassured the girl as best he could, struggling to conceal his shock. He and his first wife had been married for 8 years. He'd heard rumors now and then that she'd been stepping out, but he hadn't wanted to believe it. His life back then, after all, had seemed perfect—a high-paying job at a commercial loan company, a beautiful wife, two adoring children. … "You don't suspect something like this," Shamie says. "With my family background and her family background, this is just an unaccepted thing."
By the time his daughter started studying genetics in school and thought to ask about her eye color, Shamie had already remarried. His new wife agreed that he should send immediately for a paternity test. It arrived on a Thursday. Two weeks later, the results came back, by e-mail.
"You raise a kid for 12 years and you think it's your kid, and then this news comes. It was heartbreaking," Shamie says. "It was like I had an adoption forced on me. I adopted a child that I didn't even know I adopted."
For all the power they wield in cases of PD, medical doctors aren't the only gatekeepers deciding who should be let in on family secrets. Genetic counselors, master's-level professionals who specialize in advising patients about their risk of genetic disorders, also encounter the tell/don't-tell dilemma.
It's an issue of unusual ethical complexity—and yet, genetic counselors are strangely uniform in their responses. According to a 1992 study in the Journal of Genetic Counseling, nearly 100 percent of 199 counselors felt that the confidentiality of the mother outweighed the presumed father's right to know. These results are all the more dismaying in light of a separate survey showing that 75 percent of patients (mostly women) felt that doctors should tell the dad. Granted, the study of genetic counselors was 15 years ago, but the comments of those practicing today give little reason to believe anything has changed.
Eriskay Burton, M.S., a genetic counselor at the Brooklyn Hospital Center, recalls a case in which testing uncovered an irregularity on a child's Y chromosome, inherited from the father. When subsequent testing revealed that the father was not a carrier of this irregularity, paternal discrepancy was almost certain. "It's our obligation to call him with these results," Burton acknowledges. But, she says, "we're not obligated to suggest to him that it's due to nonpaternity."
This kind of hairsplitting is distressingly common. Another counselor, Suzanne Carter, M.S., of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, cites scientific uncertainty as her justification for sometimes withholding the truth about a test's implications. "With what the standard is—99.9 percent—can I say that he's been absolutely excluded as the baby's father?" Carter asks. Her answer? "No."
There's a fine ethical line between a sin of omission and a sin of commission. Another genetic counselor, Elsa Reich, M.S., related one case in which a physician explained away a genetic inconsistency by lying to a man, saying that it "was probably a new mutation." When I asked Reich if she would ever resort to this sort of subterfuge herself, she replied, "I've never done that. But might I? I might, I might."
Of course, lying is nothing new in the world of medicine. As late as 1970, doctors infamously withheld cancer diagnoses "for the good of the patient." (After all, they figured, these patients were doomed anyway, so what good would knowing do them?) This ended when it collectively dawned on doctors that, good intentions notwithstanding, paternalism was probably not the best approach. But given the nondisclosure policy of most genetic counselors these days, it might as well be 1970 again—except that now, with women dominating 92 percent of the field, paternalism seems to have been replaced by maternalism.
Patrick Wilson, M.M.Sc., is one of the exceptions to this practice. A search of the National Society of Genetic Counselors' Web site shows that of the 76 genetic counselors specializing in prenatal testing, which is how PD is often exposed, Wilson is one of only three men. So where does he come down on this issue? Does the father have a right to know? "He should know what the results are, and the implications of those results," Wilson says. "If he's under the mistaken assumption that he carries a genetic mutation, he may think that his future children—especially if he has a child with another woman—are at an increased risk of having that particular condition."
Wilson wouldn't go on record as to whether there's a gender bias in his profession, but a comparison from the aforementioned 1992 study suggests that there might be. Of the genetic counselors with M.S. degrees who were surveyed, 93.5 percent were women, while 65 percent of the M.D. and Ph.D. geneticists were men. And how did they come out on disclosure? Some of the geneticists said that they would tell the father if PD was accidentally discovered, but the researchers noted, "Most M.S. counselors chose to tell the mother alone."
In Carnell Smith's view, the only way to solve the PD problem would be to make paternity testing mandatory at birth. Smith, himself a victim of PD, is with the advocacy group U.S. Citizens Against Paternity Fraud. "The child is born and you're being told, 'Look, he's got your eyes, he's got your nose, he's got all your facial features.' That is an emotionally disarming time for any man to be able to make an 18- to 21-year decision, when he doesn't have all the facts."
But Burton doesn't think it's ethical to make such testing compulsory without informed consent from both mother and father. "It would have to be something that they wanted to do," she says. Yet even if both parents were present for the birth and agreed to sign off on testing, she says, there's an even bigger problem: Who's going to pay for it? "Paternity testing can cost up to $400. And medical insurance doesn't cover that. It would be too costly."
Wade Horn, Ph.D., an assistant secretary for children and families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, doesn't see this as being about money. For him, it's about the power of the state. "I'm a father," he says. "I've got two kids, been married 30 years. If somebody had walked in 6 hours after my baby was born in the hospital and said, 'We're going to do genetic testing, open your mouth. … ' This is the government forcing you to submit to a genetic test. I'd tell them to go to hell."
More important, he says, mandating genetic testing would deliver the wrong message. "Fatherhood is not simply about shared genetic makeup. It is far more significant than that. And the message that that would send to men all across America, and to our culture, about the meaning of fatherhood would be abhorrent." Besides, he says, in any contested paternity case, federal law requires that the state must provide a paternity test whenever a man requests it.
But in the real world, says Ron Henry, a Washington, D.C based lawyer and fathers'-rights activist, it rarely works out that way. "A huge number of these things are resolved by default judgment, or by a guy who just shows up without a lawyer and has no prayer of knowing what's going on. Or you've got a situation where there's social pressure, and the guy is beat up if he asks for a genetic test. You know, 'How dare you challenge me! You were in the hospital when I had this baby, blah blah blah.' So the reality is that surprisingly few people are actually having the test done."
Dylan Davis didn't, and he's regretted it ever since. A 36-year-old Desert Storm vet, Davis now works as a software engineer in Denver. His marriage was already crumbling when a friend of his had the good grace to let him in on a little secret that everyone but him seemed to know: Davis's twins, a boy and a girl, actually belonged to a cook at a seafood restaurant where his wife used to work as a waitress.
"I was completely numb," Davis says. "I felt like such an idiot after all those years, just an absolute fool. Anger hadn't even set in. Depression set in. Because these were not my kids."
Still, Davis didn't claim his right to a paternity test. "I didn't want to raise the issue, for fear of what the judge would say if I came forward and said, 'I don't think those kids are mine.' Yet at the same time, I wanted as much custody of those kids as I could get." The end result: In 2002, Davis was ordered by the court to pay more than $1,000 a month in child support. And 5 years later, he's still paying, even though any relationship he had with the twins has long since disintegrated.
I'm on the phone with Owen Williams (not his real name), who just found out yesterday that the tired child I hear crying in the background, the child he's been rocking to sleep every night, the child who carries his name, belongs to some other man. For a person who's just had his life turned upside down, he seems surprisingly calm.
Williams is a level-headed guy. He's 24 years old and working toward a degree in network engineering. He has clear professional goals. He knows what he wants out of life. And this definitely isn't it.
The child's mother comes home from work in another 6 1/2 hours. She doesn't realize that Williams knows the truth, and he has no plans to tell her. As soon as he finds a new place to live, within a day or two, he hopes, he's going to leave, and that's it. "In fact, when I move out, I'm not saying anything, because there's nothing to be said. For over 15 months, over a year, she deceived me. Every doctor visit I've been to, every cookout I've been to, every reunion I've been to—with her, on her account—I've been deceived."
Yesterday's discovery changed things for Williams. "Knowing that I'm not his father is the part that I'm having trouble with," he explains. "He has nothing to do with what happened between me and her. So I treat him just like any other kid."
The effects of PD on the father-child relationship have never been formally studied, but common sense suggests that the more time a man has to form a bond with the child, the more he'll try to salvage that bond in the aftermath of PD. After raising his daughter for 12 years, Shamie still wants her in his life, but acrimony between him and his ex-wife continues to confound that hope. As for Wise, he later found out that none of his three boys were his. Despite the trauma of this revelation, he still thought of himself as their dad. Today, though, the oldest boy, 18, won't have anything to do with him, and the youngest was 12 when he died of cystic fibrosis in 2004, killed by the disease he inherited from a stranger. "He had to pay the ultimate price," Wise says. "It took his life."
If there's any lesson here for a man, it's this: The medical establishment is not on your side, the legal establishment may or may not be on your side, and you can be damn sure that the woman who lied to you isn't on your side, which makes it all the more important that you stick up for yourself. More important, perhaps, asking a few painful questions in the beginning could save you—and the ones you love—a lot of pain later on. No man can be blamed for believing in the woman he loves. You can't go into love doubting. But nor can you live without truth.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Jellyfish have human-like eyes
A set of special eyes, similar to our own, keeps venomous box jellyfish from bumping into obstacles as they swim across the ocean floor, a new study finds.
Unlike normal jellyfish, which drift in the ocean current, box jellyfish are active swimmers that can rapidly make 180-degree turns and deftly dart between objects. Scientists suspect that box jellyfish are such agile because one set of their 24 eyes detects objects that get in their way.
“Behavior-wise, they’re very different from normal jellyfish,” said study leader Anders Garm of Lund University in Sweden.
Unlike normal jellyfish, which drift in the ocean current, box jellyfish are active swimmers that can rapidly make 180-degree turns and deftly dart between objects. Scientists suspect that box jellyfish are such agile because one set of their 24 eyes detects objects that get in their way.
“Behavior-wise, they’re very different from normal jellyfish,” said study leader Anders Garm of Lund University in Sweden.
The eyes of box jellyfish are located on cup-like structures that hang from their cube-shaped bodies.
Whereas we have one set of multi-purpose eyes that sense color, size, shape and light intensity, box jellyfish have four different types of special-purpose eyes. The most primitive set detects only light levels, but one set of eyes is more sophisticated and can detect the color and size of objects.
One of these eyes is located on the top of the cup-like structure, the other on the bottom, which provides the jellyfish with “an extreme fish-eye view, so it’s watching almost the entire underwater world,” said Garm, who will present his research at the Society of Experimental Biology’s annual meeting, in Scotland.
To test if these eyes helped the jellyfish avoid obstacles, Garm put the jellyfish in a flow chamber and inserted different objects to see if the jellyfish could avoid them. While the jellyfish could avoid objects of different colors and shapes, transparent objects proved more difficult.
“They can’t respond to the see-through ones,” Garm said.
Because jellyfish belong to one of the first groups of animals to evolve eyes (the phylum Cnidaria), Garm said, understanding how their eyes operate will show scientists what eyes were like early in evolutionary time.
Whereas we have one set of multi-purpose eyes that sense color, size, shape and light intensity, box jellyfish have four different types of special-purpose eyes. The most primitive set detects only light levels, but one set of eyes is more sophisticated and can detect the color and size of objects.
One of these eyes is located on the top of the cup-like structure, the other on the bottom, which provides the jellyfish with “an extreme fish-eye view, so it’s watching almost the entire underwater world,” said Garm, who will present his research at the Society of Experimental Biology’s annual meeting, in Scotland.
To test if these eyes helped the jellyfish avoid obstacles, Garm put the jellyfish in a flow chamber and inserted different objects to see if the jellyfish could avoid them. While the jellyfish could avoid objects of different colors and shapes, transparent objects proved more difficult.
“They can’t respond to the see-through ones,” Garm said.
Because jellyfish belong to one of the first groups of animals to evolve eyes (the phylum Cnidaria), Garm said, understanding how their eyes operate will show scientists what eyes were like early in evolutionary time.
Scientists unearth Superman's 'kryptonite'
LONDON - Kryptonite, which robbed Superman of his powers, is no longer the stuff of comic books and films.
A mineral found by geologists in Serbia shares virtually the same chemical composition as the fictional kryptonite from outer space, used by the superhero's nemesis Lex Luthor to weaken him in the film "Superman Returns."
"We will have to be careful with it — we wouldn't want to deprive Earth of its most famous superhero!," said Chris Stanley, a mineralogist at London's Natural History Museum.
Stanley, who revealed the identity of the mysterious new mineral, discovered the match after searching the Internet for its chemical formula — sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide.
"I was amazed to discover that same scientific name written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther from a museum in the film 'Superman Returns,'" he said.
The substance has been confirmed as a new mineral after tests by scientists at the Natural History Museum in London and the National Research Council in Canada.
But instead of the large green crystals in Superman comics, the real thing is a white, powdery substance which contains no fluorine and isn't radioactive.
The mineral, to be named Jadarite, will go on show at the London's Natural History Museum starting tomorrow.
A mineral found by geologists in Serbia shares virtually the same chemical composition as the fictional kryptonite from outer space, used by the superhero's nemesis Lex Luthor to weaken him in the film "Superman Returns."
"We will have to be careful with it — we wouldn't want to deprive Earth of its most famous superhero!," said Chris Stanley, a mineralogist at London's Natural History Museum.
Stanley, who revealed the identity of the mysterious new mineral, discovered the match after searching the Internet for its chemical formula — sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide.
"I was amazed to discover that same scientific name written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther from a museum in the film 'Superman Returns,'" he said.
The substance has been confirmed as a new mineral after tests by scientists at the Natural History Museum in London and the National Research Council in Canada.
But instead of the large green crystals in Superman comics, the real thing is a white, powdery substance which contains no fluorine and isn't radioactive.
The mineral, to be named Jadarite, will go on show at the London's Natural History Museum starting tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
32 Killed by English Major at Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Sometime after he killed two people in a Virginia university dormitory but before he slaughtered 30 more in a classroom building Monday morning, Cho Seung-Hui mailed NBC News a large package, including photographs and videos, lamenting that “I didn’t have to do this.”
Cho, 23, a senior English major at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, killed 32 people in two attacks before taking his own life.
NBC News President Steve Capus said the network received the package, which was not addressed to a specific person, in Tuesday afternoon’s mail delivery, but it was not opened until Wednesday morning. The network immediately turned the materials over to FBI agents in New York.
The package included an 1,800-word manifesto-like statement diatribe in which he expresses rage, resentment and a desire to get even. The material is “hard-to-follow ... disturbing, very disturbing — very angry, profanity-laced,” Capus said in an interview late Wednesday afternoon.
The material does not include any images of the shootings Monday, but it does contain vague references.
“I didn’t have to do this. I could have left. I could have fled. But no, I will no longer run. It’s not for me. For my children, for my brothers and sisters that you [molest] — I did it for them,” Cho says on one of the videos.
NBC cooperating with investigatorsCapus said the network was cooperating with Virginia State Police and the FBI, which is assisting the state police.
The package bore a U.S. Postal Service stamp recording that it had been received at a Virginia post office at 9:01 a.m. ET Monday, about an hour and 45 minutes after Cho shot two people in the West Ambler Johnston residence hall on the Virginia Tech campus and shortly before Cho entered Norris Hall, where he killed 30 more people.
“We probably would have received the mail earlier had it not been that he had the wrong address and ZIP code,” Capus said.
Among the materials are 23 QuickTime video files showing Cho talking directly to the camera, Capus said. He does not name anyone specifically, but he mentions “hedonism” and Christianity, and he talks at length about his hatred of the wealthy.
“You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today,” Cho says. “But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off.”
The production of the videos is uneven, with Cho’s voice so soft that at times it is hard to understand him. But they indicate that Cho had worked on the package for some time, because he not only “took the time to record the videos, but he also broke them down into snippets” that were embedded paragraph by paragraph into the main document, Capus said.
Chilling photographsThe package also includes 29 photographs. Cho looks like a normal, smiling college student in only the first two. In the rest, he presents a stern face; in 11, he aims handguns at the camera that are “consistent with what we’ve heard about the guns in this incident,” Capus said.
Other photographs show Cho holding a knife, and some show hollow-point bullets lined up on a table.
“This may be a very new, critical component of this investigation,” said Col. Steven Flaherty, superintendent of Virginia State Police, the lead agency investigating the shootings. “We’re in the process right now of attempting to analyze and evaluate its worth.”
Detention order issuedAs early as 2005, police and school administrators were wrestling with what to do with Cho, who was accused of stalking two female students and was sent to a mental health facility after police obtained a temporary detention order.
The two women complained to campus police that Cho was contacting them with “annoying” telephone calls and e-mail messages in November and December 2005, campus Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said.
Cho was referred to the university’s disciplinary system, but Flinchum said the woman declined to press charges, and the case apparently never reached a hearing.
However, after the second incident, the department received a call from an acquaintance of Cho’s, who was concerned that he might be suicidal, Flinchum said. Police obtained a temporary detention order from a local magistrate, and in December of that year, Cho was briefly admitted to Carilion St. Albans Behavioral Health Center in Radford, NBC News’ Jim Popkin reported.
To issue a detention order under Virginia law, a magistrate must find both that the subject is “mentally ill and in need of hospitalization or treatment” and that the subject is “an imminent danger to himself or others, or is so seriously mentally ill as to be substantially unable to care for himself.”
According to a doctor’s report accompanying the order, which was obtained by NBC News, Cho was “depressed,” but “his insight and judgment are normal.” The doctor, a clinical psychologist, noted that Cho “denies suicidal ideations.”
Cho was released, said Dr. Harvey Barker, director of the health center.
“If a person is able, at that moment, to persuade a psychiatrist [and] the hospital treating team that they are OK to be released — I imagine sometimes that does happen,” Barker told NBC News.
Under the law, the magistrate could have issued a stronger detention order mandating inpatient treatment, but there was no indication Wednesday that such an order was ever entered. A spokesman for Carilion St. Albans told NBC News that he could not discuss Cho’s case because of patient confidentiality and privacy laws, but he said the hospital was cooperating with the investigation.
Otherwise, Flinchum said, there were no further police incidents involving Cho until the deadly shootings Monday, first in a young woman’s dormitory room and then at a classroom building across campus. Neither of the alleged stalking victims was among the victims Monday.
In addition to the 33 people confirmed dead, including the gunman, nine people remained in hospitals in stable condition, hospital authorities said.
Health records soughtCampus police applied Wednesday for search warrants for all of Cho’s medical records from Schiffert Health Center on campus and New River Community Services in Blacksburg.
”It is reasonable to believe that the medical records may provide evidence of motive, intent and designs,” investigators wrote in the documents, according to The Associated Press.
Police searched Cho’s dorm room Tuesday and recovered, among other items, a chain and a combination lock, according to documents filed Wednesday. The front doors of Norris Hall, the classroom building, had been chained shut from the inside during the shooting rampage.
In an affidavit seeking the warrant to search the room, police found a “bomb threat” note — directed at engineering school buildings — near the victims in the classroom building. In the past three weeks, Virginia Tech had received two other bomb threats; investigators said they had not connected those to Cho.
Family sought better life in U.S.Cho arrived in the United States as an 8-year-old boy from South Korea in 1992 and was raised in an off-white, two-story townhouse in Centreville, Va., a suburb of Washington, where his parents worked at a dry cleaners. He graduated from Westfield High School in Chantilly in 2003.
Cho’s family moved to the United States in search of a better life, said the family’s landlady in South Korea. The family was poor and lived in a cheap basement apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, the woman told South Korean television Wednesday.
Cho had an older sister, Sun-Kyung, who graduated from Princeton University with an economics degree in 2004, Princeton officials confirmed.
The Princeton student newspaper reported Wednesday that she is pursuing a career as a State Department contractor working on the reconstruction of Iraq. It said that Sun-Kyung Cho was “palpably upset” when it contacted her and that she refused its requests for an interview.
Student concerned classmates, teachersHer brother, however, was described as a sullen loner by several students and professors. They had long been alarmed by his class writings — pages filled with twisted, violence-drenched writing.
Nikki Giovanni, the famous poet who is a professor at Virginia Tech, said Wednesday that while she did not fear for her life or the lives of her other students, she had Cho removed from her class because he was a disruptive force.
“He was mean,” Giovanni told NBC News’ Peter Alexander. “He was trying to bully me. He was trying to bully the class, for what purpose I have no idea.
“I wanted him out of my classroom,” she said.
Lucinda Roy, a co-director of creative writing at Virginia Tech, said she tutored Cho after that. She called Cho “a gifted student in some ways. But he was very lonely and depressed, in my opinion. We didn’t build up a rapport because he wasn’t the kind of student who would permit that.”
“I think it’s crazy” that there are no stronger procedures for dealing with seriously troubled students, she said in an interview with NBC News. “I think there needs to be a change. We must intervene, and that is all there is to it.”
In a screenplay Cho wrote for a class last fall, characters throw hammers and attack with chainsaws, according to fellow students in the class. In another, Cho concocted a tale of students who fantasized about stalking and killing a teacher who sexually molested them.
Stephanie Derry, a classmate of Cho’s, told the campus newspaper, The Collegiate Times, that classmates were so horrified that they even joked that they “were just waiting for him to do something, waiting to hear about something he did. But when I got the call it was Cho who had done this, I started crying, bawling.”
Cho, 23, a senior English major at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, killed 32 people in two attacks before taking his own life.
NBC News President Steve Capus said the network received the package, which was not addressed to a specific person, in Tuesday afternoon’s mail delivery, but it was not opened until Wednesday morning. The network immediately turned the materials over to FBI agents in New York.
The package included an 1,800-word manifesto-like statement diatribe in which he expresses rage, resentment and a desire to get even. The material is “hard-to-follow ... disturbing, very disturbing — very angry, profanity-laced,” Capus said in an interview late Wednesday afternoon.
The material does not include any images of the shootings Monday, but it does contain vague references.
“I didn’t have to do this. I could have left. I could have fled. But no, I will no longer run. It’s not for me. For my children, for my brothers and sisters that you [molest] — I did it for them,” Cho says on one of the videos.
NBC cooperating with investigatorsCapus said the network was cooperating with Virginia State Police and the FBI, which is assisting the state police.
The package bore a U.S. Postal Service stamp recording that it had been received at a Virginia post office at 9:01 a.m. ET Monday, about an hour and 45 minutes after Cho shot two people in the West Ambler Johnston residence hall on the Virginia Tech campus and shortly before Cho entered Norris Hall, where he killed 30 more people.
“We probably would have received the mail earlier had it not been that he had the wrong address and ZIP code,” Capus said.
Among the materials are 23 QuickTime video files showing Cho talking directly to the camera, Capus said. He does not name anyone specifically, but he mentions “hedonism” and Christianity, and he talks at length about his hatred of the wealthy.
“You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today,” Cho says. “But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off.”
The production of the videos is uneven, with Cho’s voice so soft that at times it is hard to understand him. But they indicate that Cho had worked on the package for some time, because he not only “took the time to record the videos, but he also broke them down into snippets” that were embedded paragraph by paragraph into the main document, Capus said.
Chilling photographsThe package also includes 29 photographs. Cho looks like a normal, smiling college student in only the first two. In the rest, he presents a stern face; in 11, he aims handguns at the camera that are “consistent with what we’ve heard about the guns in this incident,” Capus said.
Other photographs show Cho holding a knife, and some show hollow-point bullets lined up on a table.
“This may be a very new, critical component of this investigation,” said Col. Steven Flaherty, superintendent of Virginia State Police, the lead agency investigating the shootings. “We’re in the process right now of attempting to analyze and evaluate its worth.”
Detention order issuedAs early as 2005, police and school administrators were wrestling with what to do with Cho, who was accused of stalking two female students and was sent to a mental health facility after police obtained a temporary detention order.
The two women complained to campus police that Cho was contacting them with “annoying” telephone calls and e-mail messages in November and December 2005, campus Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said.
Cho was referred to the university’s disciplinary system, but Flinchum said the woman declined to press charges, and the case apparently never reached a hearing.
However, after the second incident, the department received a call from an acquaintance of Cho’s, who was concerned that he might be suicidal, Flinchum said. Police obtained a temporary detention order from a local magistrate, and in December of that year, Cho was briefly admitted to Carilion St. Albans Behavioral Health Center in Radford, NBC News’ Jim Popkin reported.
To issue a detention order under Virginia law, a magistrate must find both that the subject is “mentally ill and in need of hospitalization or treatment” and that the subject is “an imminent danger to himself or others, or is so seriously mentally ill as to be substantially unable to care for himself.”
According to a doctor’s report accompanying the order, which was obtained by NBC News, Cho was “depressed,” but “his insight and judgment are normal.” The doctor, a clinical psychologist, noted that Cho “denies suicidal ideations.”
Cho was released, said Dr. Harvey Barker, director of the health center.
“If a person is able, at that moment, to persuade a psychiatrist [and] the hospital treating team that they are OK to be released — I imagine sometimes that does happen,” Barker told NBC News.
Under the law, the magistrate could have issued a stronger detention order mandating inpatient treatment, but there was no indication Wednesday that such an order was ever entered. A spokesman for Carilion St. Albans told NBC News that he could not discuss Cho’s case because of patient confidentiality and privacy laws, but he said the hospital was cooperating with the investigation.
Otherwise, Flinchum said, there were no further police incidents involving Cho until the deadly shootings Monday, first in a young woman’s dormitory room and then at a classroom building across campus. Neither of the alleged stalking victims was among the victims Monday.
In addition to the 33 people confirmed dead, including the gunman, nine people remained in hospitals in stable condition, hospital authorities said.
Health records soughtCampus police applied Wednesday for search warrants for all of Cho’s medical records from Schiffert Health Center on campus and New River Community Services in Blacksburg.
”It is reasonable to believe that the medical records may provide evidence of motive, intent and designs,” investigators wrote in the documents, according to The Associated Press.
Police searched Cho’s dorm room Tuesday and recovered, among other items, a chain and a combination lock, according to documents filed Wednesday. The front doors of Norris Hall, the classroom building, had been chained shut from the inside during the shooting rampage.
In an affidavit seeking the warrant to search the room, police found a “bomb threat” note — directed at engineering school buildings — near the victims in the classroom building. In the past three weeks, Virginia Tech had received two other bomb threats; investigators said they had not connected those to Cho.
Family sought better life in U.S.Cho arrived in the United States as an 8-year-old boy from South Korea in 1992 and was raised in an off-white, two-story townhouse in Centreville, Va., a suburb of Washington, where his parents worked at a dry cleaners. He graduated from Westfield High School in Chantilly in 2003.
Cho’s family moved to the United States in search of a better life, said the family’s landlady in South Korea. The family was poor and lived in a cheap basement apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, the woman told South Korean television Wednesday.
Cho had an older sister, Sun-Kyung, who graduated from Princeton University with an economics degree in 2004, Princeton officials confirmed.
The Princeton student newspaper reported Wednesday that she is pursuing a career as a State Department contractor working on the reconstruction of Iraq. It said that Sun-Kyung Cho was “palpably upset” when it contacted her and that she refused its requests for an interview.
Student concerned classmates, teachersHer brother, however, was described as a sullen loner by several students and professors. They had long been alarmed by his class writings — pages filled with twisted, violence-drenched writing.
Nikki Giovanni, the famous poet who is a professor at Virginia Tech, said Wednesday that while she did not fear for her life or the lives of her other students, she had Cho removed from her class because he was a disruptive force.
“He was mean,” Giovanni told NBC News’ Peter Alexander. “He was trying to bully me. He was trying to bully the class, for what purpose I have no idea.
“I wanted him out of my classroom,” she said.
Lucinda Roy, a co-director of creative writing at Virginia Tech, said she tutored Cho after that. She called Cho “a gifted student in some ways. But he was very lonely and depressed, in my opinion. We didn’t build up a rapport because he wasn’t the kind of student who would permit that.”
“I think it’s crazy” that there are no stronger procedures for dealing with seriously troubled students, she said in an interview with NBC News. “I think there needs to be a change. We must intervene, and that is all there is to it.”
In a screenplay Cho wrote for a class last fall, characters throw hammers and attack with chainsaws, according to fellow students in the class. In another, Cho concocted a tale of students who fantasized about stalking and killing a teacher who sexually molested them.
Stephanie Derry, a classmate of Cho’s, told the campus newspaper, The Collegiate Times, that classmates were so horrified that they even joked that they “were just waiting for him to do something, waiting to hear about something he did. But when I got the call it was Cho who had done this, I started crying, bawling.”
Saturday, April 14, 2007
List of Titanic’s Doomed Passengers
LONDON - The names, ages and professions of passengers listed on the Titanic’s fateful journey have gone online for the first time, 95 years after the luxury ocean liner sank on its maiden voyage.
Dozens of pages featuring the original handwritten passenger list are available, revealing the cabin class of passengers.
They poignantly show the emigration plans of many hopefuls setting sail from Southampton for a new life in America in 1912.
The White Star liner, touted as “unsinkable,” left port on April 10, only to sink after hitting an iceberg, with the loss of 1,523 lives.
Among the passengers, for example, was George Mackay, a 20-year-old butler from Scotland travelling third class and hoping to start a new life in America.
In first class the Countess of Rothes is recorded as travelling with her cousin Gladys Cherry and her personal maid Roberta Maioni. They survived after being picked up by the ship Carpathia.
The list, which is available for free for one week at findmypast.com, could help genealogists trace family members. Previously, the list could only be seen at the National Archives in Kew, southwest London.
Findmypast is an online research site that provides information on genealogy.
The online listing coincides with a commemoration service to be held in the British port of Southampton on Sunday for the hundreds of residents who took the voyage as either passengers or crew and who died when the Titanic went down mid Atlantic.
The list completes the set of passengers lists for the ships leaving the UK during the decade between 1910 and 1919.
A spokesman for findmypast said the lists were considered so high-profile by the National Archives that they qualified for the same level of security as Henry VIII’s divorce papers and the Domesday Book and could only be consulted under supervision.
He said it also gives details of the lucky few who narrowly escaped the fate of the other passengers when they disembarked from the ship in France.
The original documents also show that some passengers who intended to board at Queenstown (Cobh in County Cork) did not actually embark, despite having purchased tickets, he said.
Dozens of pages featuring the original handwritten passenger list are available, revealing the cabin class of passengers.
They poignantly show the emigration plans of many hopefuls setting sail from Southampton for a new life in America in 1912.
The White Star liner, touted as “unsinkable,” left port on April 10, only to sink after hitting an iceberg, with the loss of 1,523 lives.
Among the passengers, for example, was George Mackay, a 20-year-old butler from Scotland travelling third class and hoping to start a new life in America.
In first class the Countess of Rothes is recorded as travelling with her cousin Gladys Cherry and her personal maid Roberta Maioni. They survived after being picked up by the ship Carpathia.
The list, which is available for free for one week at findmypast.com, could help genealogists trace family members. Previously, the list could only be seen at the National Archives in Kew, southwest London.
Findmypast is an online research site that provides information on genealogy.
The online listing coincides with a commemoration service to be held in the British port of Southampton on Sunday for the hundreds of residents who took the voyage as either passengers or crew and who died when the Titanic went down mid Atlantic.
The list completes the set of passengers lists for the ships leaving the UK during the decade between 1910 and 1919.
A spokesman for findmypast said the lists were considered so high-profile by the National Archives that they qualified for the same level of security as Henry VIII’s divorce papers and the Domesday Book and could only be consulted under supervision.
He said it also gives details of the lucky few who narrowly escaped the fate of the other passengers when they disembarked from the ship in France.
The original documents also show that some passengers who intended to board at Queenstown (Cobh in County Cork) did not actually embark, despite having purchased tickets, he said.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Gay in the Ring
Chris Klucsarits is the real name of Chris Kanyon, a pro wrestler who’s shined under the national spotlight since 1995. Kanyon has worked for the three major domestic federations: now-defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Total Nonstop Action (TNA).He had a six-digit salary for years, a luxurious home in Atlanta and worldwide fans and fame. During the summer of 2001, he was the WWE’s United States Champion and, simultaneously, the WWE World Tag Team Champion (with Diamond Dallas Page). Kanyon was leading the good life, a rare champion with two titles at the same time.But Klucsarits’ real life was hell. He was gay, closeted in an ultra-macho profession, an emotional wreck.Klucsarits recently revealed his homosexuality and, in his first interview, talks with Chicago-based writer Ross Forman about his closeted past, his suicide attempt and a promising future as an only openly gay male athlete. (Professional wrestling is more sports-entertainment, but the athleticism needed to excel in pro wrestling certainly is real.)
Chris Klucsarits didn’t know how people became straight, or if there was such a process. He just knew that, at age 5, he was obsessed with a male friend of the family. The boy was good-looking, athletic, and a little older than him, Klucsarits recalls of his earliest same-sex interest.“I don’t know why I thought this, but, I thought that once you kissed your first girl, it’d be like a light-switch and you’d turn straight,” he said.
So Klucsarits went for that first kiss at about age 11 while living in Queens, N.Y. He went roller-skating with his buddies, like normal, and found the girl who was going to be the one. He eventually skated her home and then, ironically, standing in the gutter while she was on the curb so as to not tower over her, they kissed.“But there were no fireworks,” Klucsarits said.They parted ways minutes later and, about a block away, Klucsarits realized, “I was gay, that I would be gay for the rest of my life and that my life would not be easy.”He cried on the way home. He even had to stop to re-gain his composure before returning home.“The next three or four months were brutal; they were really hard because I knew I was not like everyone else,” he said.Klucsarits, 36, attended the University of Buffalo, where he played on the rugby club and eventually graduated in 1992 with a physical therapy degree. He spent the next three years as a physical therapist, eventually quitting to join World Championship Wrestling in May 1995. WCW – since purchased and disbanded by its competition, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) – was an Atlanta-based company owned by TV mogul Ted Turner, featuring such superstars as Hulk Hogan, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Ric Flair, Sting and others.Klucsarits wrestled worldwide for WCW until its final days in March 2001. In May 2001, he joined the WWE, where he worked until February 2004. He wrestled for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) in late-2005.So why now? Why come out now?“The time just seemed right,” he said. “I’ve come to terms with it and want to help others.“People cannot say I’m just doing to make a name for myself; I’ve already made a name for myself. I’ve already accomplished almost every one of my goals in wrestling. I wanted to hold championship belts in the major federations, and I have. I wanted to wrestle at Madison Square Garden (in New York City), the mecca of the sports world, and I have. The only professional goals I have not obtained yet are: be the World Heavyweight Champion and wrestle at or headline a WrestleMania.“Coming out isn’t about me. This is, hopefully, about helping others, especially kids, who are struggling with their sexuality. I want to be a role-model to them, someone they can look up to.”And not just because he’s a muscled 6’5", 250-pounder whose friendly, outgoing personality can, at times, be hidden behind the gruff, cocky wrestling persona.During the summer of 2001, Kanyon was at the pinnacle of his career, the WWE’s reigning United States Champion and the WWE’s World Tag Team Champion. He was preparing for an August pay-per-view match against The Undertaker and Kane in California.But Klucsarits was miserable. “All I could think of was, how alone I was,” he said. “I had no one to call, no one to check in with, no one to tell my problems to, no one to be there for me.“The better my career got, the more miserable I got personally because I had no one to share it with. Eventually, I started blaming wrestling because, in my mind, it was wrestling that forced me into the closet.”He hit rock-bottom two years later, attempting suicide in September 2003 by swallowing 50 sleeping pills.Klucsarits immediately went into therapy, hoping to come to terms with his sexuality, “which was the cause of my depression, the reason I attempted suicide.”He was diagnosed as bi-polar.“I know that, if I had gay role-models to look up to as a kid, I might not have forced myself into the closet,” Klucsarits said. “I knew when I was 11-years-old that my sexuality was something I needed to keep secret from everyone, and I never re-visited that until after the suicide attempt.”After the suicide attempt, Klucsarits researched homosexuality. He wanted to know why some people were homosexual, why society is so against it. The first time
Klucsarits had walked the dog that Friday night and was heading home at about 11:30 p.m., when he noticed someone following him. Klucsarits thought the guy was checking him out and Klucsarits also was checking out the “good-looking kid.”When he got home, Klucsarits looked out the upstairs window and again spotted the guy staring at him. So Klucsarits went back outside, but didn’t see him immediately.They eventually bumped into each other at a nearby park where Klucsarits hung out with his friends on a daily basis. In the back of the park, by the monkey-bars, they started messing around, Klucsarits said.“My heart was pounding. I was scared and guilt already was setting in,” said Klucsarits, 17 at the time. “I thought I’d burn in hell for what I was doing, because that’s what I had always been taught happens to homosexuals.”Out of the corner of his eye, Klucsarits noticed a friend walking into the park. They hid as his friend, ironically, walked next to the monkey-bars before leaving the park.Klucsarits immediately and abruptly ended his first homosexual experience and told the companion that they couldn’t do anything else – that night or ever. In fact, Klucsarits even told him, ‘If you ever see me again, do not approach me. If I want to approach you, I will. But do not approach me. My friends know all of my other friends, so if some stranger approached, I know they’d be curious.’”The next day, the stranger was back and approached Klucsarits in front of his friends – against Klucsarits’ demands.And he snapped, pulling the stranger away from his friends.“I told him, ‘If I ever again even see you at this park, I will kill you,’ ” Klucsarits said. “I was that paranoid (about being out-ed) that I threatened murder.”Klucsarits never saw him again.“In my heart, I knew what I did in the park that night was right, what I wanted to do. But, I kept hearing for years that homosexuality was wrong,” he said.Klucsarits had several homosexual encounters in college, but it was difficult because, remember, that was in the pre-Internet era. Klucsarits also had homosexual encounters with one of his rugby teammates.In May 1996, while living in a new Atlanta apartment, Klucsarits bought his first computer. “That’s when I realized the Internet may be the easiest, and best, way for me to at least quench my urges. I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend at the time; I was just looking for (a one-night stand),” he said.Kanyon was a rising TV celebrity in the mid- to late-1990s. WCW aired on SuperStation WTBS and syndicated worldwide. Kanyon was on TV several times per weekend.But Klucsarits was way too nervous to picture himself online in the gay community. So he used someone else’s partially obscured face-photo and claimed it was his. “I did not feel comfortable sending my face picture via email, just in case I was recognized,” he said. “I was never called out for the picture not looking like me.”In 1998, Kanyon was one of the main trainers for Jay Leno when the late-night talk show host stepped into the ring for a WCW match. He also had helped train NBA superstars Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman for their in-ring runs.Plus, Klucsarits was an integral part – on and off camera – for the wrestling movie "Ready To Rumble."In 1999, Kanyon won the WCW World Tag Team Championship when a trio known as the Jersey Triad – New Jersey natives and longtime friends Kanyon, Diamond Dallas Page and Bam Bam Bigelow – won the gold.“When the homosexuality was getting me down, when I was really struggling with my identity and self-confidence, I could tell. My work-rate, my ability in the ring really suffered,” Klucsarits said. “I was in a catch-22. The more popular I got, the more miserable I got. I always thought I could do so much better if I could just come clean, be who I was. But I couldn’t.“Everyone is looking for a significant-other, be it a man or a woman, in their life. There were times I thought I’d never find one, especially with the profession I was in. I always thought if (my sexuality) got out, I’d get in trouble or get fired.”Klucsarits heard regular locker room slurs directly at homosexuals, “but I didn’t know if they really meant what they were saying, or just saying things to fit in.” He said his homosexuality was never an issue among the other wrestlers.“It’s hard enough being on the road normally, as we were, sometimes as much as 30 days a month, but then the pressure of not knowing if in fact these people are your friends makes it even harder.”Since coming out, Klucsarits said it’s been “no big deal” among the wrestlers he’s long been friends with. He has not had any negative responses from other wrestlers, “at least not to my face,” he said.Klucsarits said since coming out he’s “a million percent happier,” and is appreciative for all of the overwhelmingly supportive fans who he’s spoken with and others who have e-mailed him.“I want to help people who are struggling with their sexuality, especially kids. I want to be a role-model,” he said. “I hope someday being gay is thought of in the same sense as being left-handed … no big deal.”Klucsarits, who eventually plans to write a book, said he is not dating anyone now. “But I definitely have a lot more gay friends today than I did a month ago,” he said, laughing.
Klucsarits had walked the dog that Friday night and was heading home at about 11:30 p.m., when he noticed someone following him. Klucsarits thought the guy was checking him out and Klucsarits also was checking out the “good-looking kid.”When he got home, Klucsarits looked out the upstairs window and again spotted the guy staring at him. So Klucsarits went back outside, but didn’t see him immediately.They eventually bumped into each other at a nearby park where Klucsarits hung out with his friends on a daily basis. In the back of the park, by the monkey-bars, they started messing around, Klucsarits said.“My heart was pounding. I was scared and guilt already was setting in,” said Klucsarits, 17 at the time. “I thought I’d burn in hell for what I was doing, because that’s what I had always been taught happens to homosexuals.”Out of the corner of his eye, Klucsarits noticed a friend walking into the park. They hid as his friend, ironically, walked next to the monkey-bars before leaving the park.Klucsarits immediately and abruptly ended his first homosexual experience and told the companion that they couldn’t do anything else – that night or ever. In fact, Klucsarits even told him, ‘If you ever see me again, do not approach me. If I want to approach you, I will. But do not approach me. My friends know all of my other friends, so if some stranger approached, I know they’d be curious.’”The next day, the stranger was back and approached Klucsarits in front of his friends – against Klucsarits’ demands.And he snapped, pulling the stranger away from his friends.“I told him, ‘If I ever again even see you at this park, I will kill you,’ ” Klucsarits said. “I was that paranoid (about being out-ed) that I threatened murder.”Klucsarits never saw him again.“In my heart, I knew what I did in the park that night was right, what I wanted to do. But, I kept hearing for years that homosexuality was wrong,” he said.Klucsarits had several homosexual encounters in college, but it was difficult because, remember, that was in the pre-Internet era. Klucsarits also had homosexual encounters with one of his rugby teammates.In May 1996, while living in a new Atlanta apartment, Klucsarits bought his first computer. “That’s when I realized the Internet may be the easiest, and best, way for me to at least quench my urges. I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend at the time; I was just looking for (a one-night stand),” he said.Kanyon was a rising TV celebrity in the mid- to late-1990s. WCW aired on SuperStation WTBS and syndicated worldwide. Kanyon was on TV several times per weekend.But Klucsarits was way too nervous to picture himself online in the gay community. So he used someone else’s partially obscured face-photo and claimed it was his. “I did not feel comfortable sending my face picture via email, just in case I was recognized,” he said. “I was never called out for the picture not looking like me.”In 1998, Kanyon was one of the main trainers for Jay Leno when the late-night talk show host stepped into the ring for a WCW match. He also had helped train NBA superstars Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman for their in-ring runs.Plus, Klucsarits was an integral part – on and off camera – for the wrestling movie "Ready To Rumble."In 1999, Kanyon won the WCW World Tag Team Championship when a trio known as the Jersey Triad – New Jersey natives and longtime friends Kanyon, Diamond Dallas Page and Bam Bam Bigelow – won the gold.“When the homosexuality was getting me down, when I was really struggling with my identity and self-confidence, I could tell. My work-rate, my ability in the ring really suffered,” Klucsarits said. “I was in a catch-22. The more popular I got, the more miserable I got. I always thought I could do so much better if I could just come clean, be who I was. But I couldn’t.“Everyone is looking for a significant-other, be it a man or a woman, in their life. There were times I thought I’d never find one, especially with the profession I was in. I always thought if (my sexuality) got out, I’d get in trouble or get fired.”Klucsarits heard regular locker room slurs directly at homosexuals, “but I didn’t know if they really meant what they were saying, or just saying things to fit in.” He said his homosexuality was never an issue among the other wrestlers.“It’s hard enough being on the road normally, as we were, sometimes as much as 30 days a month, but then the pressure of not knowing if in fact these people are your friends makes it even harder.”Since coming out, Klucsarits said it’s been “no big deal” among the wrestlers he’s long been friends with. He has not had any negative responses from other wrestlers, “at least not to my face,” he said.Klucsarits said since coming out he’s “a million percent happier,” and is appreciative for all of the overwhelmingly supportive fans who he’s spoken with and others who have e-mailed him.“I want to help people who are struggling with their sexuality, especially kids. I want to be a role-model,” he said. “I hope someday being gay is thought of in the same sense as being left-handed … no big deal.”Klucsarits, who eventually plans to write a book, said he is not dating anyone now. “But I definitely have a lot more gay friends today than I did a month ago,” he said, laughing.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The Price of Survival
Another winter, another scare on Oregon's Mt. Hood. As three stranded climbers return safely home, a closer look at the economics of search and rescue.
Feb. 20, 2007 - This time, there was a happy ending. An emergency locator beacon and a four-year-old Labrador retriever named Velvet were credited with the survival of three stranded climbers on Oregon's tallest peak, Mt. Hood.
Velvet kept the crew warm after they fell off a cliff on the mountain's south face on Sunday and spent the night in below-freezing temperatures and 70 mile-per-hour gusts. The beacon, a radio transmitter that rents for $5 at a nearby outdoors shop, helped guide rescuers to Matty Bryant, 34, Kate Hanlon, 34, and Christine Redl, 26—Portland schoolteachers found in surprisingly good shape on Monday morning. Their story was a welcome contrast to the failed rescue attempt last December that left three out-of-state climbers dead after a widely pubicized, 11-day search. Only one of the bodies was recovered.
But with traffic exploding on Mt. Hood—about 10,000 people a year attempt to scale the 11,300-foot peak visible from downtown Portland—some nature-loving Oregonians are starting to ask the tough question: why should taxpayers be responsible for saving thrill-seekers, in some cases from their own folly?
"There's always a group of people who think, 'If we get lost or hurt, somebody will come and get us,' " says Ken Murphy, director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management. Murphy's office helps local officials with the toughest searches, providing a Blackhawk helicopter that costs up to $2,000 per hour to operate. When paychecks for rescue personnel are factored in, even search-and-rescue operations that involve volunteers can cost cash-strapped local governments up to $6,000 an hour. "There are a lot of unseen, unknown costs," Murphy says.
Oregon is one of only three states with a law on the books requiring lost mountaineers to reimburse the government for search costs. But the cap is $500, and the fine can only be applied if the stranded climbers didn't exercise "reasonable care" to avoid the mishap. The teachers rescued Tuesday did everything right, authorities say. They brought plenty of warm clothing, sleeping bags, energy bars and climbing gear, plus a charged cell phone and two locator beacons. Plus, they filled out a climbing registry when they arrived, letting the rescuers know what their route was. But other weight-conscious day-trippers may bring only a fraction of that gear; that type of hiker typically monitors Mt. Hood's dynamic weather patterns with far less care.
The state fine is a punishment rarely levied, in part because it's tough to second-guess climbers: even the most experienced mountaineers can fall victim to a storm. There's also a fairly widespread sentiment among climbers and rescuers alike that it doesn't make sense to punish people for getting into that kind of trouble.
Phil Powers, executive director of the American Alpine Institute, said Oregon rescuers spent only 4 percent of their budgets annually on climbers, according to research the nonprofit group has conducted."Climbing rescues are more interesting," he said. "But you can spend more money trying to locate a lost hiker, where the terrain in which you're looking is much more vast. The big cost in rescue is search, not rescue." Last December, for example, searchers combed hundreds of square miles of the Siskiyou National Forest, searching for a San Francisco family who had gotten lost trying to cross the Coast Range. Rescuers found Kati Kim and her two children alive after spending nine days in the family car along a logging road, but her husband, James, perished while trying to hike out for help.
No one argues that those who are genuine victims of weather or road conditions should bear the cost of their own rescue. But the question is trickier for those who get into trouble as a result of recreation. Rosie O'Donnell made headlines the same month the Kims got lost for criticizing the high costs involved in the search for the three out-of-state climbers who eventually died on Mt. Hood. "What warrants 27 helicopters and 1,000 people looking?" she asked on the television show The View.
Forcing climbers to pay search-and-rescue costs isn't the answer, said Fran Sharp, president of the National Mountain Rescue Association, a nonprofit group established in 1958 at Mt. Hood's Timberline Lodge to coordinate teams across the country.
"The Coast Guard doesn't charge for rescues at sea," Sharp said. "All that would do is put us at more risk. People won't call in time. They'll wait longer. They'll get in more trouble."
About 10,000 people attempt to summit Mt. Hood each year, said Steve Rollins, a search leader for the Mountain Rescue Association, an all-volunteer group that spends its $30,000 annual budged on communications equipment. Between 2004 and this Monday, Rollins says his group had engaged in 15 rescue missions involving climbers. The number of deaths annually varies between one and three, with no marked increase in recent years. Rollins said 99 percent of the Monday rescue was a volunteer effort that cost taxpayers nothing.
Oregon Rep. John Lim introduced a bill this session that would require Mt. Hood climbers aiming higher than 10,000 feet to carry locator beacons, which transmit a radio signal to rescuers to pinpoint a stranded adventurer's location.
The Mountain Rescue Association opposes Lim's bill. The reason: beacons can give climbers a false sense of security—prompting more dangerous approach attempts. And they add weight, Rollins says, which can slow a climber down in an environment where speed getting on and off the mountain is one of the most important safety measures to consider.
"The climber equipped with the bare essentials is safer than someone carrying a tent, stove and sleeping bags," Rollins adds. "When you do mountaineering, you're literally counting grams."
The three climbers plucked from Hood's fierce winds on Monday are surely counting something else today: their blessings.
Feb. 20, 2007 - This time, there was a happy ending. An emergency locator beacon and a four-year-old Labrador retriever named Velvet were credited with the survival of three stranded climbers on Oregon's tallest peak, Mt. Hood.
Velvet kept the crew warm after they fell off a cliff on the mountain's south face on Sunday and spent the night in below-freezing temperatures and 70 mile-per-hour gusts. The beacon, a radio transmitter that rents for $5 at a nearby outdoors shop, helped guide rescuers to Matty Bryant, 34, Kate Hanlon, 34, and Christine Redl, 26—Portland schoolteachers found in surprisingly good shape on Monday morning. Their story was a welcome contrast to the failed rescue attempt last December that left three out-of-state climbers dead after a widely pubicized, 11-day search. Only one of the bodies was recovered.
But with traffic exploding on Mt. Hood—about 10,000 people a year attempt to scale the 11,300-foot peak visible from downtown Portland—some nature-loving Oregonians are starting to ask the tough question: why should taxpayers be responsible for saving thrill-seekers, in some cases from their own folly?
"There's always a group of people who think, 'If we get lost or hurt, somebody will come and get us,' " says Ken Murphy, director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management. Murphy's office helps local officials with the toughest searches, providing a Blackhawk helicopter that costs up to $2,000 per hour to operate. When paychecks for rescue personnel are factored in, even search-and-rescue operations that involve volunteers can cost cash-strapped local governments up to $6,000 an hour. "There are a lot of unseen, unknown costs," Murphy says.
Oregon is one of only three states with a law on the books requiring lost mountaineers to reimburse the government for search costs. But the cap is $500, and the fine can only be applied if the stranded climbers didn't exercise "reasonable care" to avoid the mishap. The teachers rescued Tuesday did everything right, authorities say. They brought plenty of warm clothing, sleeping bags, energy bars and climbing gear, plus a charged cell phone and two locator beacons. Plus, they filled out a climbing registry when they arrived, letting the rescuers know what their route was. But other weight-conscious day-trippers may bring only a fraction of that gear; that type of hiker typically monitors Mt. Hood's dynamic weather patterns with far less care.
The state fine is a punishment rarely levied, in part because it's tough to second-guess climbers: even the most experienced mountaineers can fall victim to a storm. There's also a fairly widespread sentiment among climbers and rescuers alike that it doesn't make sense to punish people for getting into that kind of trouble.
Phil Powers, executive director of the American Alpine Institute, said Oregon rescuers spent only 4 percent of their budgets annually on climbers, according to research the nonprofit group has conducted."Climbing rescues are more interesting," he said. "But you can spend more money trying to locate a lost hiker, where the terrain in which you're looking is much more vast. The big cost in rescue is search, not rescue." Last December, for example, searchers combed hundreds of square miles of the Siskiyou National Forest, searching for a San Francisco family who had gotten lost trying to cross the Coast Range. Rescuers found Kati Kim and her two children alive after spending nine days in the family car along a logging road, but her husband, James, perished while trying to hike out for help.
No one argues that those who are genuine victims of weather or road conditions should bear the cost of their own rescue. But the question is trickier for those who get into trouble as a result of recreation. Rosie O'Donnell made headlines the same month the Kims got lost for criticizing the high costs involved in the search for the three out-of-state climbers who eventually died on Mt. Hood. "What warrants 27 helicopters and 1,000 people looking?" she asked on the television show The View.
Forcing climbers to pay search-and-rescue costs isn't the answer, said Fran Sharp, president of the National Mountain Rescue Association, a nonprofit group established in 1958 at Mt. Hood's Timberline Lodge to coordinate teams across the country.
"The Coast Guard doesn't charge for rescues at sea," Sharp said. "All that would do is put us at more risk. People won't call in time. They'll wait longer. They'll get in more trouble."
About 10,000 people attempt to summit Mt. Hood each year, said Steve Rollins, a search leader for the Mountain Rescue Association, an all-volunteer group that spends its $30,000 annual budged on communications equipment. Between 2004 and this Monday, Rollins says his group had engaged in 15 rescue missions involving climbers. The number of deaths annually varies between one and three, with no marked increase in recent years. Rollins said 99 percent of the Monday rescue was a volunteer effort that cost taxpayers nothing.
Oregon Rep. John Lim introduced a bill this session that would require Mt. Hood climbers aiming higher than 10,000 feet to carry locator beacons, which transmit a radio signal to rescuers to pinpoint a stranded adventurer's location.
The Mountain Rescue Association opposes Lim's bill. The reason: beacons can give climbers a false sense of security—prompting more dangerous approach attempts. And they add weight, Rollins says, which can slow a climber down in an environment where speed getting on and off the mountain is one of the most important safety measures to consider.
"The climber equipped with the bare essentials is safer than someone carrying a tent, stove and sleeping bags," Rollins adds. "When you do mountaineering, you're literally counting grams."
The three climbers plucked from Hood's fierce winds on Monday are surely counting something else today: their blessings.
Morrison returning, says he is HIV negative
I'm not the only one:
CHESTER, W.Va. (AP) - Former WBO heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison is staging a comeback, saying Tuesday that a positive HIV test that ended his career more than a decade ago was inaccurate.
"I'm negative and I've always been negative and that should be the end of it," Morrison said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
The 38-year-old will face John Castle in a four-round fight Thursday at Mountaineer Racetrack and Gaming Resort.
"The rug was yanked out from under my feet by a misdiagnosis," he said. "All I want to do is fight. ... It's unfinished business."
State Athletic Commissioner Steve Allred said Tuesday he approved Morrison's participation in the fight after reviewing medical records and consulting with the Association of Boxing Commissions' medical review committee. Allred said confidentiality laws prevent him from discussing Morrison's medical history or the records he reviewed.
West Virginia does not have mandatory blood testing for boxers.
"I assure you that West Virginia is doing due diligence to make sure everyone who steps into the ring is healthy," Allred said.
Morrison (46-3) and Castle (4-2) square off in one of seven bouts scheduled at Mountaineer.
Morrison won the WBO title in 1993 by outpointing George Foreman. He lost it later that year. Morrison, who was featured in the movie "Rocky V," also served a couple of years in an Arkansas prison on drug and weapons charges.
He announced he had human immunodeficiency virus in February 1996 and last fought in Japan that November, knocking out Marcus Rhode in the first round.
Morrison said Tuesday that he has taken several HIV tests while preparing for his comeback and all have been negative.
He has signed a contract with Top Rank promoters for at least eight fights this year.
"I have no doubt I'll be a better fighter than I ever was before," he said. "I am more relaxed. Something that comes along with age causes you to simmer a bit."
CHESTER, W.Va. (AP) - Former WBO heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison is staging a comeback, saying Tuesday that a positive HIV test that ended his career more than a decade ago was inaccurate.
"I'm negative and I've always been negative and that should be the end of it," Morrison said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
The 38-year-old will face John Castle in a four-round fight Thursday at Mountaineer Racetrack and Gaming Resort.
"The rug was yanked out from under my feet by a misdiagnosis," he said. "All I want to do is fight. ... It's unfinished business."
State Athletic Commissioner Steve Allred said Tuesday he approved Morrison's participation in the fight after reviewing medical records and consulting with the Association of Boxing Commissions' medical review committee. Allred said confidentiality laws prevent him from discussing Morrison's medical history or the records he reviewed.
West Virginia does not have mandatory blood testing for boxers.
"I assure you that West Virginia is doing due diligence to make sure everyone who steps into the ring is healthy," Allred said.
Morrison (46-3) and Castle (4-2) square off in one of seven bouts scheduled at Mountaineer.
Morrison won the WBO title in 1993 by outpointing George Foreman. He lost it later that year. Morrison, who was featured in the movie "Rocky V," also served a couple of years in an Arkansas prison on drug and weapons charges.
He announced he had human immunodeficiency virus in February 1996 and last fought in Japan that November, knocking out Marcus Rhode in the first round.
Morrison said Tuesday that he has taken several HIV tests while preparing for his comeback and all have been negative.
He has signed a contract with Top Rank promoters for at least eight fights this year.
"I have no doubt I'll be a better fighter than I ever was before," he said. "I am more relaxed. Something that comes along with age causes you to simmer a bit."
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Man's body found in front of TV year after death
HAMPTON BAYS, N.Y. - The partially mummified body of a man dead for more than a year has been found in a chair in front of his television, which was still on, authorities said.
Vincenzo Ricardo, 70, apparently died of natural causes, said Dr. Stuart Dawson, Suffolk County’s deputy chief medical examiner.
Police found Ricardo’s body this week when they investigated a report of burst pipes.
The home’s dry air had preserved his features, morgue assistant Jeff Bacchus said.
“You could see his face. He still had hair on his head,” Bacchus said.
Ricardo’s wife died years ago, and he lived alone, Dawson said.
“He hasn’t been heard from in over a year. That’s the part that baffles me,” he said. “Nobody sounded the alarm.”
Neighbors said they had thought Ricardo was in a hospital or nursing home.
“We never thought to check on him,” said neighbor Diane Devon.
© 2007 The Associated Press.
Vincenzo Ricardo, 70, apparently died of natural causes, said Dr. Stuart Dawson, Suffolk County’s deputy chief medical examiner.
Police found Ricardo’s body this week when they investigated a report of burst pipes.
The home’s dry air had preserved his features, morgue assistant Jeff Bacchus said.
“You could see his face. He still had hair on his head,” Bacchus said.
Ricardo’s wife died years ago, and he lived alone, Dawson said.
“He hasn’t been heard from in over a year. That’s the part that baffles me,” he said. “Nobody sounded the alarm.”
Neighbors said they had thought Ricardo was in a hospital or nursing home.
“We never thought to check on him,” said neighbor Diane Devon.
© 2007 The Associated Press.
Friday, February 16, 2007
S.F. School Teaches Business Basics To 5th Graders
Now, if they would also do the same for a project teaching 'the arts':
(AP) SAN FRANCISCO Like any ambitious entrepreneur, Amy Lee has created a global marketing plan, approved the product manufacturing specifications and memorized a business pitch to venture capitalists."I'm nervous, but I think I can get people to invest," said the president and founder of Friends Forever Bracelet Inc., a jewelry retailer that plans a major Internet advertising campaign in China.After a brief conversation with investors, she walked away with $32 in fake currency—no treasure for a Silicon Valley executive, but a proud fortune for an 11-year-old girl.Amy is a fifth grader at San Francisco's Jean Parker Elementary School, where she's enrolled in a monthlong crash course in the fundamentals of business administration. The students learn new words like "revenue" and "prototype," meet venture capitalists and executives, and even tour the glass offices of San Francisco's financial district.At the end of the month, they all sell their bracelets to fourth graders. Whichever team makes the most make-believe "BizBucks" wins the contest, and everyone celebrates with a big party sponsored jointly by San Francisco-based software company Salesforce.com and BizWorld Foundation, a nonprofit founded by a local venture capitalist.The program is one of many that aim to teach business skills to kids. Some, like Colorado-based Junior Achievement have been around for generations and are offered at schools around the world. But the programs, long commonplace in America's high schools, are increasingly being offered to students in middle and even elementary schools, advocates say, and are reaching a more diverse population than ever before.Jean Parker, for example, is on the edge of San Francisco's Chinatown and many students are the children of first-generation Asian immigrants.Advocates say the initiative gets students thinking about entrepreneurship, finance, marketing and other real-world jobs, expanding their options beyond firefighters, veterinarians and other typical fifth-grade career picks. Proponents—including millionaire backers from the tech industry—want every school in America to teach business basics."Business curriculum engages students in learning much more than the basic 'two-plus-two-is-four' system, and it gives them a way to connect to their education," said Gerald Richards, executive director for the Bay Area Office of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. The group sponsors its own business school-style programs for students age 11 through 18 in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington, Los Angeles, Miami, Baltimore and Pittsburgh."It needs to become a standard part of education nationwide as a way to give students a way to take ownership of their futures."But critics say these "kiddie MBA" programs—often sponsored by corporations—are thinly veiled advertisements that undercut the nonprofit motive of public education. They worry that dividing students into teams, then appointing one person president and giving lesser roles to other kids, needlessly exposes children to the cutthroat world of corporate America."If you're just trying to make every student want to be an entrepreneur, that's not necessary and could be harmful," said Ikhlaq Sidhu, who runs the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley.He applauds any program that teaches kids communication and sales skills. But in a nation desperate for more rank-and-file scientists and engineers, emphasizing business ownership might send the wrong message to students who have no desire to start a company, Sidhu said.At Jean Parker, students meet once a week for a couple hours with businesspeople such as Bobby Napiltonia, a Salesforce.com senior vice president. Earlier this month, he pretended to be a VC for Amy Lee and other fifth graders—something he himself did when launching his own Internet startup before joining Salesforce."One of the kids was actually sweating, he was so nervous when he was pitching me. I thought, 'Hey, I know that feeling!"' Napiltonia said. "The best part of this is that they are learning that in the real world, they can do whatever they want, as long as they can get investors to get on board. It's empowering."The idea behind the program at Jean Parker came in 1993, when the 8-year-old daughter of Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper asked her dad to describe his job. At a loss to explain entrepreneurship to a third grader, he used his daughter's love of friendship bracelets to create a mock company for her and her classmates.Draper—founder and managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, which has backed startups such as Skype, Overture and Hotmail—established BizWorld Foundation in 1997. Google, Merrill Lynch, Salomon Smith Barney and the New York Stock Exchange Foundation have donated at least $100,000 to the foundation, which runs academic business curricula in all 50 states.Jean Parker teacher Celia Magtoto says the program gets her 30 fifth graders thinking about careers far different from those of their parents, many of whom work blue-collar jobs.Magtoto was initially concerned that a program promoting business culture could marginalize aspiring musicians, painters and others kids interested in non-corporate careers. But she quickly realized that the kids—who have music, art and other classes— rarely glimpse the business world.The program turns some of her shiest wallflowers into straight-talking ramrods."I see kids who normally wouldn't talk to their peers suddenly pitching their company to adults they don't even know—that's great for self esteem," Magtoto said. "And it's great for them to see that there are adults out there who really care and really listen to them."
(AP) SAN FRANCISCO Like any ambitious entrepreneur, Amy Lee has created a global marketing plan, approved the product manufacturing specifications and memorized a business pitch to venture capitalists."I'm nervous, but I think I can get people to invest," said the president and founder of Friends Forever Bracelet Inc., a jewelry retailer that plans a major Internet advertising campaign in China.After a brief conversation with investors, she walked away with $32 in fake currency—no treasure for a Silicon Valley executive, but a proud fortune for an 11-year-old girl.Amy is a fifth grader at San Francisco's Jean Parker Elementary School, where she's enrolled in a monthlong crash course in the fundamentals of business administration. The students learn new words like "revenue" and "prototype," meet venture capitalists and executives, and even tour the glass offices of San Francisco's financial district.At the end of the month, they all sell their bracelets to fourth graders. Whichever team makes the most make-believe "BizBucks" wins the contest, and everyone celebrates with a big party sponsored jointly by San Francisco-based software company Salesforce.com and BizWorld Foundation, a nonprofit founded by a local venture capitalist.The program is one of many that aim to teach business skills to kids. Some, like Colorado-based Junior Achievement have been around for generations and are offered at schools around the world. But the programs, long commonplace in America's high schools, are increasingly being offered to students in middle and even elementary schools, advocates say, and are reaching a more diverse population than ever before.Jean Parker, for example, is on the edge of San Francisco's Chinatown and many students are the children of first-generation Asian immigrants.Advocates say the initiative gets students thinking about entrepreneurship, finance, marketing and other real-world jobs, expanding their options beyond firefighters, veterinarians and other typical fifth-grade career picks. Proponents—including millionaire backers from the tech industry—want every school in America to teach business basics."Business curriculum engages students in learning much more than the basic 'two-plus-two-is-four' system, and it gives them a way to connect to their education," said Gerald Richards, executive director for the Bay Area Office of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. The group sponsors its own business school-style programs for students age 11 through 18 in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington, Los Angeles, Miami, Baltimore and Pittsburgh."It needs to become a standard part of education nationwide as a way to give students a way to take ownership of their futures."But critics say these "kiddie MBA" programs—often sponsored by corporations—are thinly veiled advertisements that undercut the nonprofit motive of public education. They worry that dividing students into teams, then appointing one person president and giving lesser roles to other kids, needlessly exposes children to the cutthroat world of corporate America."If you're just trying to make every student want to be an entrepreneur, that's not necessary and could be harmful," said Ikhlaq Sidhu, who runs the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley.He applauds any program that teaches kids communication and sales skills. But in a nation desperate for more rank-and-file scientists and engineers, emphasizing business ownership might send the wrong message to students who have no desire to start a company, Sidhu said.At Jean Parker, students meet once a week for a couple hours with businesspeople such as Bobby Napiltonia, a Salesforce.com senior vice president. Earlier this month, he pretended to be a VC for Amy Lee and other fifth graders—something he himself did when launching his own Internet startup before joining Salesforce."One of the kids was actually sweating, he was so nervous when he was pitching me. I thought, 'Hey, I know that feeling!"' Napiltonia said. "The best part of this is that they are learning that in the real world, they can do whatever they want, as long as they can get investors to get on board. It's empowering."The idea behind the program at Jean Parker came in 1993, when the 8-year-old daughter of Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper asked her dad to describe his job. At a loss to explain entrepreneurship to a third grader, he used his daughter's love of friendship bracelets to create a mock company for her and her classmates.Draper—founder and managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, which has backed startups such as Skype, Overture and Hotmail—established BizWorld Foundation in 1997. Google, Merrill Lynch, Salomon Smith Barney and the New York Stock Exchange Foundation have donated at least $100,000 to the foundation, which runs academic business curricula in all 50 states.Jean Parker teacher Celia Magtoto says the program gets her 30 fifth graders thinking about careers far different from those of their parents, many of whom work blue-collar jobs.Magtoto was initially concerned that a program promoting business culture could marginalize aspiring musicians, painters and others kids interested in non-corporate careers. But she quickly realized that the kids—who have music, art and other classes— rarely glimpse the business world.The program turns some of her shiest wallflowers into straight-talking ramrods."I see kids who normally wouldn't talk to their peers suddenly pitching their company to adults they don't even know—that's great for self esteem," Magtoto said. "And it's great for them to see that there are adults out there who really care and really listen to them."
BOMB at STARBUCKS Near My Home -- NOT!
About 100 people were evacuated and traffic on two busy San Francisco thoroughfares was rerouted Monday as police disabled a homemade bomb in the restroom of a Starbucks coffee shop.
An employee saw what appeared to be a suspicious device on the floor of the unisex bathroom at the Starbucks at Van Ness Avenue and Bush Street around 1:15 p.m. and called police, Sgt. Neville Gittens said.
Gittens would not describe the bomb or its size other than to say it "would have caused damage if it exploded.''
Don Henschke, sales manager at Ellis Brooks Auto Center across the street from the coffeehouse, said a police officer described the bomb to him as "a portion of a flashlight and a fuse."
Mamoru Ogawa said police called the device a pipe bomb as they evacuated him, his wife and two customers from the sushi restaurant that he owns next door to the building that houses the Starbucks.
The bomb squad disabled the device at about 2:10 p.m., and witnesses said they heard a popping sound at the time.
Gittens said no one phoned in a bomb threat or took responsibility for the device, but he said investigators have a "pretty good lead" on a suspect.
Traffic on Van Ness between Sutter and Pine streets, and on Bush between Franklin and Polk streets was rerouted from about 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. People were evacuated from the Starbucks, a seven-story apartment building above the coffee house and Ogawa's restaurant.
Vandals have targeted San Francisco Starbucks in the past.
NOT!!!!
San Francisco authorities struggled to explain Thursday how they concluded that an object left in a Starbucks bathroom was a bomb, when tests revealed it was nothing more than a flashlight with corroded batteries.
"This appeared, by itself, to be a bomb,'' said police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens, who was the first to relay word from bomb squad investigators Monday afternoon that the object was an "improvised explosive device." The news quickly went national, and at one point CNN was broadcasting developments.
Gittens would not specify what about the device was so convincing, other than to say that all the people who saw it described it as a "tube-shaped cylinder with a fuse.''
The incident began when an employee of the Starbucks at 1401 Van Ness Ave. spotted the object in the bathroom after a man came in, asked for coffee grounds and then used the restroom.
The employee called police. Officers evacuated the store and an apartment building above it, and bomb squad officers used a high-power hose to blast the object with water.
On Wednesday, the residue from the device was sent to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for testing. The results showed that the device was harmless, authorities acknowledged Thursday.
Gittens defended the department's handling of the matter, saying that in the post-Sept. 11 world, police are inclined to err on the side of caution.
"This was done in the interest of public safety," Gittens said. "If we had a similar situation tomorrow, we would take the same actions. I think the public would expect us to.''
He would not confirm that the device was simply a flashlight. But authorities speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed that was the case.
They said a muffled noise that police heard when the water cannon hit the object, which they took to be an explosion, may have been the sound of a chemical reaction between the water and the corroded batteries.
Local officials with the ATF would not say anything about the case Thursday other than that they had completed testing and forwarded the results to investigators.
The man who says he left the flashlight in the Starbucks, Ronald Schouten, 44, remains in custody in County Jail on unrelated matters. He told police he had found the flashlight on the street and thought it could be used for self-defense, but decided to leave it behind after using the restroom.
He was charged Thursday with burglary and is expected to be back in court today. After visiting the Starbucks, he allegedly went to a Circuit City and used the bag the coffeehouse gave him for the coffee grounds to shoplift a camera, prosecutors said.
An employee saw what appeared to be a suspicious device on the floor of the unisex bathroom at the Starbucks at Van Ness Avenue and Bush Street around 1:15 p.m. and called police, Sgt. Neville Gittens said.
Gittens would not describe the bomb or its size other than to say it "would have caused damage if it exploded.''
Don Henschke, sales manager at Ellis Brooks Auto Center across the street from the coffeehouse, said a police officer described the bomb to him as "a portion of a flashlight and a fuse."
Mamoru Ogawa said police called the device a pipe bomb as they evacuated him, his wife and two customers from the sushi restaurant that he owns next door to the building that houses the Starbucks.
The bomb squad disabled the device at about 2:10 p.m., and witnesses said they heard a popping sound at the time.
Gittens said no one phoned in a bomb threat or took responsibility for the device, but he said investigators have a "pretty good lead" on a suspect.
Traffic on Van Ness between Sutter and Pine streets, and on Bush between Franklin and Polk streets was rerouted from about 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. People were evacuated from the Starbucks, a seven-story apartment building above the coffee house and Ogawa's restaurant.
Vandals have targeted San Francisco Starbucks in the past.
NOT!!!!
San Francisco authorities struggled to explain Thursday how they concluded that an object left in a Starbucks bathroom was a bomb, when tests revealed it was nothing more than a flashlight with corroded batteries.
"This appeared, by itself, to be a bomb,'' said police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens, who was the first to relay word from bomb squad investigators Monday afternoon that the object was an "improvised explosive device." The news quickly went national, and at one point CNN was broadcasting developments.
Gittens would not specify what about the device was so convincing, other than to say that all the people who saw it described it as a "tube-shaped cylinder with a fuse.''
The incident began when an employee of the Starbucks at 1401 Van Ness Ave. spotted the object in the bathroom after a man came in, asked for coffee grounds and then used the restroom.
The employee called police. Officers evacuated the store and an apartment building above it, and bomb squad officers used a high-power hose to blast the object with water.
On Wednesday, the residue from the device was sent to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for testing. The results showed that the device was harmless, authorities acknowledged Thursday.
Gittens defended the department's handling of the matter, saying that in the post-Sept. 11 world, police are inclined to err on the side of caution.
"This was done in the interest of public safety," Gittens said. "If we had a similar situation tomorrow, we would take the same actions. I think the public would expect us to.''
He would not confirm that the device was simply a flashlight. But authorities speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed that was the case.
They said a muffled noise that police heard when the water cannon hit the object, which they took to be an explosion, may have been the sound of a chemical reaction between the water and the corroded batteries.
Local officials with the ATF would not say anything about the case Thursday other than that they had completed testing and forwarded the results to investigators.
The man who says he left the flashlight in the Starbucks, Ronald Schouten, 44, remains in custody in County Jail on unrelated matters. He told police he had found the flashlight on the street and thought it could be used for self-defense, but decided to leave it behind after using the restroom.
He was charged Thursday with burglary and is expected to be back in court today. After visiting the Starbucks, he allegedly went to a Circuit City and used the bag the coffeehouse gave him for the coffee grounds to shoplift a camera, prosecutors said.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Homeless woman's horrible death
In a crime prosecutors say showed "exceptional depravity," two San Francisco women stand accused of dousing a longtime homeless woman with gasoline and burning her alive in an apparent witness retaliation slaying.
Mia Sagote, 30, and Leslie Siliga, 29, are believed to have selected the victim, Leslie "Jill" May, 49, after May told police on the day of her death that she had been robbed by Sagote on the street in the Tenderloin the day before.
"The victim was kidnapped off the street and taken to Candlestick Park, doused with gasoline and set on fire," said Assistant District Attorney George Butterworth. He said the crime was especially heinous and showed "exceptional depravity."
Authorities say May was first accosted in the Tenderloin the morning of Jan. 11 by Sagote, who was angry that May's boyfriend owed her $150 on a loan. When May said she had no money, Sagote allegedly slammed May to a wall, then threw her to the ground and punched her face, police said.
Later that morning, Sagote pulled May behind a trash container and stripped the victim of her clothing and cash, leaving her naked behind a garbage bin, authorities say. The incident was witnessed, according to police.
May went to authorities the next day and reported the crime. Authorities believe that at least one of the women involved had learned, apparently by word on the street, of May's police report naming Sagote. That afternoon, May was back in the Tenderloin when she was approached by two women, forced into the backseat of a car, and driven to the stadium parking lot at Candlestick Point and set on fire, authorities said.
Sagote, who was arrested on Jan. 23, is charged separately in the robbery of May on Jan. 11. Siliga was arrested Tuesday and appeared in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty. Both women are charged with murder and murder in commission of a kidnapping, which could lead to life in prison without parole.
Both remain in custody and are scheduled to return to court on Feb. 22.
May had been a longtime homeless woman and crack addict who stayed in the Tenderloin. She was one of the hardcore homeless who had been identified for outreach help under Mayor Gavin Newsom's effort to move the chronically homeless off the street and into housing and social service programs.
May told her story to The Chronicle in 2004. She said her mother was a drunk, and when May was 12, she found her mother dead on the kitchen floor from alcohol poisoning.
The girl was then raised in Pocatello, Idaho, by her father, but she ran away, she said, after he raped and impregnated her at age 16.
After a miscarriage, she became a prostitute and came to the Bay Area in 1976. She and Ricky Smith -- a onetime pimp known as "Slick Rick" who had 24 prostitutes working for him -- shared a life on and off the streets. They had three children together.
Back then, May was a stunner dubbed "Legs" who attracted business from men of all professions and income levels, according to people who knew her.
"She had legs like Tina Turner, you know?" Smith said on a recent afternoon.
"Jill was a classy hooker," agreed her longtime friend Anne Griffin. "She had that personality. She had that look. She was the glamorous girl -- she looked like she stepped out of a magazine."
In the 1990s, May and Smith struggled with parenthood and keeping a roof over their heads, eventually turning over their children to Smith's brother to raise.
The couple repeatedly had been arrested for drugs and prostitution but never entered into court-ordered rehabilitation programs. They ended up living on two blocks of the Tenderloin on Jones Street, between Geary and Ellis streets.
Addicted to heroin and crack, May lost her teeth and so much weight she was practically skin and bones. Her once-famous legs grew infected from dirty syringes, and she couldn't walk anymore so much as shuffle.
In 2004, May told a Chronicle reporter, "Just one day before I die, I'm going to see the Statue of Liberty. I'm going to get on a Greyhound bus, see the country. Go to school, get a job. I want to do normal things."
Last fall, with the assistance of the city, the couple finally got permanent housing, but May still spent her days out on Jones Street using drugs. The city outreach team leader said May was singled out for efforts on a regular basis.
"It's horrible. It's a tragedy," said Fire Department paramedic Capt. Niels Tangherlini, who heads a city outreach team working with San Francisco's hard-core homeless population. "It's really sad -- we feel like we invested our heart and soul in her situation. We felt her situation was finally improving. Then the street can reach and grab some people.
"It was wrong -- for all she had been through, it felt very wrong," Tangherlini said.
Friends recently held a memorial for May, remembering her as someone who cared about her fellow downtrodden of the Tenderloin.
"Oh man, I miss Jill," Smith said. "She used to get on my nerves. I loved her, though. Jill had a one-track mind. She never had enough drugs. I worried about her all the time. Now I can rest, man."
How to help
City outreach workers who tried to get Leslie "Jill" May into housing have set up a fund to help pay for her burial. For information, e-mail Ben Amyes at benjamin.amyes@sfgov.org.
I HATE GAY PEOPLE!
Hardaway's new legacy a hateful one
The man who once went 0-for-17 in an NBA regular-season game has thrown up another brick.
Only this one didn't bounce harmlessly off the rim. Tim Hardaway's latest chuck was a brick thrown right at the gay community. What did the gay community ever do to Tim Hardaway, you ask? Uh, exist, I guess.
"I hate gay people," Hardaway announced proudly during a sports radio interview Wednesday.
Doesn't get much clearer than that. So much for love the sinner hate the sin.
Discussing former NBA center John Amaechi's revelation that he is gay, Hardaway said, "You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."
The world or the United States? Man, we haven't seen this kind of tough talk against homosexuality since Reverend Ted Haggard's pre-suspensions sermons.
Now I'm not suggesting that Tim Hardaway planned on surreptitiously attending the Thunder from Down Under male dance revue on the Down Low this weekend while his NBA brethren were at the All-Star festivities. But one has to wonder where this level of antipathy against the gay community comes from.
As for the non-hateful-self-assured-straight-male response to Amaechi's revelation, that was provided by Shaquille O'Neal.
''If he was on my team, I guess I would have to protect him from the outsiders," O'Neal said in Boston on Wednesday night. ''I'm not homophobic or anything.... I'm not the type who judges people. I wish him well.''
Definitely straight.
While the Big Aristotle had a typically wise take on Amaechi, Hardaway sounded like a 6-year-old afraid of cooties.
"And second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really distance myself from him because, uh, I don't think that's right. And you know I don't think he should be in the locker room while we're in the locker room. I wouldn't even be a part of that," Hardaway said.
Ah, kind of puts you in the mind of those wistful good old days when certain ballplayers weren't allowed to eat with the rest of the team.
Hardaway says he doesn't like to be around gay people, which must explain why he lives in that hot pink hetero haven, Miami. (According to a Syracuse University study, Miami is No. 5 on the list of America's top 10 gay-friendly cities, a ranking that may plummet if Hardaway stays in town.)
Of course it's understandable why Hardaway might choose to live in a city that is largely tolerant of homosexuals. You see, if he went looking for a city that hated gays as much as he does, he might learn that places that hate gay people are often not too fond of other minorities either.
Cincinnati amended its city charter in 1993 after 68 percent of its voters chose to make the deceptively-nicknamed Queen City the only major city in America that explicitly refused protection against discrimination for gays, lesbians and bisexuals. Yeah, now that's Hardaway's kinda place! Except for the semi-regular appearances by the Ku Klux Klan in Fountain Square. D'oh! At least Timmy and the Klan would be able to find some common ground in their shared views of gay people. (Cincinnati has since overturned its anti-gay ordinance.)
Hardaway's bigotry, while hardly unique, is particularly sad given that he played college ball at the University of Texas-El Paso, which made history in 1966 as Texas Western by defeating Kentucky in the NCAA final with an all-black starting five. When the Miners beat Kentucky, which was coached by the retrograde Adolph Rupp who refused to recruit black players, it was a landmark on the "glory road" to racial equality in college athletics. Presumably, Hardaway, an African-American, would reject Rupp's racism as immoral. But apparently he would have no problem with discrimination against gays.
Tim Hardaway was once famous as the avatar of the killer crossover. He was once famous for throwing a television monitor onto the court in a rage. He was once famous for merely hating referee Dick Bavetta.
Now he has a whole new legacy.
Tim Hardaway hates gay people. This is his new legacy. Hate. He felt it, he said it. Nobody put the word in his mouth. Lord knows who put the feeling in his heart.
The man who once went 0-for-17 in an NBA regular-season game has thrown up another brick.
Only this one didn't bounce harmlessly off the rim. Tim Hardaway's latest chuck was a brick thrown right at the gay community. What did the gay community ever do to Tim Hardaway, you ask? Uh, exist, I guess.
"I hate gay people," Hardaway announced proudly during a sports radio interview Wednesday.
Doesn't get much clearer than that. So much for love the sinner hate the sin.
Discussing former NBA center John Amaechi's revelation that he is gay, Hardaway said, "You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."
The world or the United States? Man, we haven't seen this kind of tough talk against homosexuality since Reverend Ted Haggard's pre-suspensions sermons.
Now I'm not suggesting that Tim Hardaway planned on surreptitiously attending the Thunder from Down Under male dance revue on the Down Low this weekend while his NBA brethren were at the All-Star festivities. But one has to wonder where this level of antipathy against the gay community comes from.
As for the non-hateful-self-assured-straight-male response to Amaechi's revelation, that was provided by Shaquille O'Neal.
''If he was on my team, I guess I would have to protect him from the outsiders," O'Neal said in Boston on Wednesday night. ''I'm not homophobic or anything.... I'm not the type who judges people. I wish him well.''
Definitely straight.
While the Big Aristotle had a typically wise take on Amaechi, Hardaway sounded like a 6-year-old afraid of cooties.
"And second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really distance myself from him because, uh, I don't think that's right. And you know I don't think he should be in the locker room while we're in the locker room. I wouldn't even be a part of that," Hardaway said.
Ah, kind of puts you in the mind of those wistful good old days when certain ballplayers weren't allowed to eat with the rest of the team.
Hardaway says he doesn't like to be around gay people, which must explain why he lives in that hot pink hetero haven, Miami. (According to a Syracuse University study, Miami is No. 5 on the list of America's top 10 gay-friendly cities, a ranking that may plummet if Hardaway stays in town.)
Of course it's understandable why Hardaway might choose to live in a city that is largely tolerant of homosexuals. You see, if he went looking for a city that hated gays as much as he does, he might learn that places that hate gay people are often not too fond of other minorities either.
Cincinnati amended its city charter in 1993 after 68 percent of its voters chose to make the deceptively-nicknamed Queen City the only major city in America that explicitly refused protection against discrimination for gays, lesbians and bisexuals. Yeah, now that's Hardaway's kinda place! Except for the semi-regular appearances by the Ku Klux Klan in Fountain Square. D'oh! At least Timmy and the Klan would be able to find some common ground in their shared views of gay people. (Cincinnati has since overturned its anti-gay ordinance.)
Hardaway's bigotry, while hardly unique, is particularly sad given that he played college ball at the University of Texas-El Paso, which made history in 1966 as Texas Western by defeating Kentucky in the NCAA final with an all-black starting five. When the Miners beat Kentucky, which was coached by the retrograde Adolph Rupp who refused to recruit black players, it was a landmark on the "glory road" to racial equality in college athletics. Presumably, Hardaway, an African-American, would reject Rupp's racism as immoral. But apparently he would have no problem with discrimination against gays.
Tim Hardaway was once famous as the avatar of the killer crossover. He was once famous for throwing a television monitor onto the court in a rage. He was once famous for merely hating referee Dick Bavetta.
Now he has a whole new legacy.
Tim Hardaway hates gay people. This is his new legacy. Hate. He felt it, he said it. Nobody put the word in his mouth. Lord knows who put the feeling in his heart.
Friday, February 09, 2007
SF Mayor Newsom Admits Affair, Apologizes
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom issued an apology Thursday following reports that he had an affair between his former assistant, the wife of his campaign manager, who resigned earlier this week
"Thank you all for coming here on short notice. I want to make it clear that everything you've heard and read is true," Newsom said. "I am deeply sorry about that. I hurt someone I care deeply about, Alex Tourk, his friends and family. That is something I have to live with and something that I am deeply sorry for."
Newsom said that he held himself accountable and will work hard to rebuild the trust of San Franciscans. Sources told NBC11 News that Tourk resigned Wednesday after confronting the mayor about an alleged affair involving Tourk's wife, 34-year-old Ruby Rippey-Tourk. Rippey-Tourk was Newsom's appointment secretary at the time of the alleged affair. She worked for the mayor from the time he took office to the spring of last year.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports Tourk's wife confessed to the affair as part of a substance abuse program.
The paper also said Tourk and Newsom were close and often socialized outside of work.
The report said the affair was short-lived and happened about a year and a half ago, during the mayor's divorce proceedings with his then-wife, Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Guilfoyle has since remarried and works as a Fox legal analyst in New York City.
The paper also said Tourk and Newsom were close and often socialized outside of work.
The report said the affair was short-lived and happened about a year and a half ago, during the mayor's divorce proceedings with his then-wife, Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Guilfoyle has since remarried and works as a Fox legal analyst in New York City.
Political observers said the divorced mayor's effusive apology, which came only hours after the story broke, may have helped defuse a scandal that threatened to haunt his bid for re-election in November.
"It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the Newsom campaigns and the city of San Francisco and its residents," Tourk said in a statement released Wednesday. "However, for personal reasons, I must resign my position as campaign manager of the mayor's re-election campaign. I am honored that, as deputy chief of staff, I helped create and implement key policy initiatives such as the Homeless Connect program that is now a national model for its compassionate and comprehensive approach to helping the homeless."
Newsom said he accepted the resignation with great sadness.
"It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the Newsom campaigns and the city of San Francisco and its residents," Tourk said in a statement released Wednesday. "However, for personal reasons, I must resign my position as campaign manager of the mayor's re-election campaign. I am honored that, as deputy chief of staff, I helped create and implement key policy initiatives such as the Homeless Connect program that is now a national model for its compassionate and comprehensive approach to helping the homeless."
Newsom said he accepted the resignation with great sadness.
Newsom's senior campaign strategist, Eric Jaye, would not confirm or deny the report, and declined to comment on it further.
Some Bay Area residents submitted their thoughts to NBC11:
"This is not the Mayor's private life. His affair he conducted was with the wife of a good friend. That is deplorable, but both the wife and his friend were also on the public payroll, as was the Mayor. Clinton's impeachment proceedings went forward on less scandal and betrayal of the public. The mayor should step down and out of the office he betrayed. His ethics are clearly tainted and unseemly and here that is certainly not a personal matter, but a public concern. Taking advantage of his position as Mayor to make love to a friend's wife would have been bad enough but here all involved in this triangle worked for the City and County of San Francisco. An effusive apology given only because he knew the truth had been told is no more honorable than the affair itself was," Sharon Jones said.
"The only issue I want to bring up that hasn't been mentioned is the fact that Alex Tourk's wife was the person who was unfaithful. She's the one who made the decision to end her marriage. Even if Mayor Newsome was the instigator, she should of (stet) thought about her husband and child. I guess this is why the divorce rate is so high in this country, because people just turn a deaf ear when they hear their wedding vows," Ed Bustos said.
"So he's human. He had an affair. Big deal. This is none of our business and has nothing to do with his role as the mayor. This is between the parties involved and their significant others. Period. We do not warrant or deserve his apology," Kathy McGilvery said.
"What a humiliating thing to do to someone who helped you get elected and was going to help you get re-elected. This type of thing is just a sign of total weakness on the part of the mayor. You are not even considering the fact that in the business world, having sexual relations with an employee, your secretary no less, could be considered sexual harassment in many cases and grounds for immediate termination," said John Rosica of San Jose.
"So he's human. He had an affair. Big deal. This is none of our business and has nothing to do with his role as the mayor. This is between the parties involved and their significant others. Period. We do not warrant or deserve his apology," said Kathy McGilvery.
Some Bay Area residents submitted their thoughts to NBC11:
"This is not the Mayor's private life. His affair he conducted was with the wife of a good friend. That is deplorable, but both the wife and his friend were also on the public payroll, as was the Mayor. Clinton's impeachment proceedings went forward on less scandal and betrayal of the public. The mayor should step down and out of the office he betrayed. His ethics are clearly tainted and unseemly and here that is certainly not a personal matter, but a public concern. Taking advantage of his position as Mayor to make love to a friend's wife would have been bad enough but here all involved in this triangle worked for the City and County of San Francisco. An effusive apology given only because he knew the truth had been told is no more honorable than the affair itself was," Sharon Jones said.
"The only issue I want to bring up that hasn't been mentioned is the fact that Alex Tourk's wife was the person who was unfaithful. She's the one who made the decision to end her marriage. Even if Mayor Newsome was the instigator, she should of (stet) thought about her husband and child. I guess this is why the divorce rate is so high in this country, because people just turn a deaf ear when they hear their wedding vows," Ed Bustos said.
"So he's human. He had an affair. Big deal. This is none of our business and has nothing to do with his role as the mayor. This is between the parties involved and their significant others. Period. We do not warrant or deserve his apology," Kathy McGilvery said.
"What a humiliating thing to do to someone who helped you get elected and was going to help you get re-elected. This type of thing is just a sign of total weakness on the part of the mayor. You are not even considering the fact that in the business world, having sexual relations with an employee, your secretary no less, could be considered sexual harassment in many cases and grounds for immediate termination," said John Rosica of San Jose.
"So he's human. He had an affair. Big deal. This is none of our business and has nothing to do with his role as the mayor. This is between the parties involved and their significant others. Period. We do not warrant or deserve his apology," said Kathy McGilvery.
Senate President pro Tem Don Perata said Thursday that Newsom can politically survive the scandal.
"So-called sex scandals or affairs of the heart come up in almost everybody's political life. The governor had to face that, other people have faced it, and you just move on," Perata said.
Perata said that most people are not interested in the private life of the mayor. He added that people are interested in his political and public work, and he thinks Gavin has done a fine job.
"People make judgments and then they either forget or they hold it against you. I just think it's very unfortunate that you have people around you who are allegedly your allies and close associates who drop the dime on you and go to the media. That is the bigger problem for Gavin Newsom. He has some people in his inner circle who do not want him to do well and that's the thing that bothers me the most," Perata said.
Perata said that the scandal "goes to the level of the spectacular tabloid kind of stuff."
"I would think the people who would hold this against him, already have a head start on not wanting to support him. I'm sorry that (the scandal) was made public. This is clearly something that should be done privately. I don't know anything other than what I read and I know not to trust much of what I read."
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown did not hold back comment.
"I don't think the public is terribly distracted. I think the public in many cases finds it rather entertaining that suddenly they have someone who's still alive holding public office," said Brown.
Calls to Tourk from NBC11 were unanswered.
NBC11's Cheryl Hurd called Rippey-Tourk's place of employment and they said she would not be coming to work Thursday.
"So-called sex scandals or affairs of the heart come up in almost everybody's political life. The governor had to face that, other people have faced it, and you just move on," Perata said.
Perata said that most people are not interested in the private life of the mayor. He added that people are interested in his political and public work, and he thinks Gavin has done a fine job.
"People make judgments and then they either forget or they hold it against you. I just think it's very unfortunate that you have people around you who are allegedly your allies and close associates who drop the dime on you and go to the media. That is the bigger problem for Gavin Newsom. He has some people in his inner circle who do not want him to do well and that's the thing that bothers me the most," Perata said.
Perata said that the scandal "goes to the level of the spectacular tabloid kind of stuff."
"I would think the people who would hold this against him, already have a head start on not wanting to support him. I'm sorry that (the scandal) was made public. This is clearly something that should be done privately. I don't know anything other than what I read and I know not to trust much of what I read."
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown did not hold back comment.
"I don't think the public is terribly distracted. I think the public in many cases finds it rather entertaining that suddenly they have someone who's still alive holding public office," said Brown.
Calls to Tourk from NBC11 were unanswered.
NBC11's Cheryl Hurd called Rippey-Tourk's place of employment and they said she would not be coming to work Thursday.
Since Newsom's February 2006 divorce from Guilfoyle, he has been linked to a series of women, including CSI star Sofia Milos. He also was reportedly dating a 20-year-old restaurant hostess.
The news of the alleged affair is in stark contrast to the first days as mayor of San Francisco. Newsom and Guilfoyle were once referred to as the "New Kennedys." At one point, the couple were pictured on the front page of Harper's Bazaar. The two were lying on the floor of the Gordon and Ann Getty mansion.
The scandal also hits as the mayor is gearing up for re-election.
Other top politicians have survived affairs, including former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, who was re-elected in 2002 after his extra-marital relationship with a young staff member.
Former New York mayor and potential presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani married his third wife after a public affair.
Former President Bill Clinton remains one of the country's most popular politicians despite his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
San Francisco City Hall Is "Abuzz"
City Hall "is all abuzz and chattering," Supervisor Tom Ammiano said. "Everyone's on adrenaline. Then there's going to be a crash."
Supervisor Chris Daly, a vocal critic of the Newsom administration, and former Supervisor Tony Hall, a possible candidate in the 2007 mayoral election, also commented Thursday on the political implications of the mayor's affair.
Daly said the affair raises concerns about a relationship with a woman working in the office, but his main concern was for Alex Tourk, who has a young child with Rippey-Tourk.
"While we've been on opposite sides of the political battle, I feel sorry for him," Daly said. "He's a good guy."
Daly went on to say that the real ramifications of today's announcement -- both ethical and legal -- won't be known for weeks, but he did say that the management of the mayor's office could be thrown into turmoil, and that he wouldn't capitalize on that disruption.
"There's no secret that I've been looking for a good progressive candidate to challenge the mayor," Daly said. "This, frankly has put that search on hold."
Hall, who is considering challenging Newsom, said his possible mayoral bid "is certainly not going to be based on Newsom's misdeeds."
However, he said, "I'm getting an awful lot of encouragement, especially after today."
Hall said Newsom's affair is an example of what the former supervisor calls a pattern of dishonesty and had harsh criticism for the mayor.
The news of the alleged affair is in stark contrast to the first days as mayor of San Francisco. Newsom and Guilfoyle were once referred to as the "New Kennedys." At one point, the couple were pictured on the front page of Harper's Bazaar. The two were lying on the floor of the Gordon and Ann Getty mansion.
The scandal also hits as the mayor is gearing up for re-election.
Other top politicians have survived affairs, including former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, who was re-elected in 2002 after his extra-marital relationship with a young staff member.
Former New York mayor and potential presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani married his third wife after a public affair.
Former President Bill Clinton remains one of the country's most popular politicians despite his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
San Francisco City Hall Is "Abuzz"
City Hall "is all abuzz and chattering," Supervisor Tom Ammiano said. "Everyone's on adrenaline. Then there's going to be a crash."
Supervisor Chris Daly, a vocal critic of the Newsom administration, and former Supervisor Tony Hall, a possible candidate in the 2007 mayoral election, also commented Thursday on the political implications of the mayor's affair.
Daly said the affair raises concerns about a relationship with a woman working in the office, but his main concern was for Alex Tourk, who has a young child with Rippey-Tourk.
"While we've been on opposite sides of the political battle, I feel sorry for him," Daly said. "He's a good guy."
Daly went on to say that the real ramifications of today's announcement -- both ethical and legal -- won't be known for weeks, but he did say that the management of the mayor's office could be thrown into turmoil, and that he wouldn't capitalize on that disruption.
"There's no secret that I've been looking for a good progressive candidate to challenge the mayor," Daly said. "This, frankly has put that search on hold."
Hall, who is considering challenging Newsom, said his possible mayoral bid "is certainly not going to be based on Newsom's misdeeds."
However, he said, "I'm getting an awful lot of encouragement, especially after today."
Hall said Newsom's affair is an example of what the former supervisor calls a pattern of dishonesty and had harsh criticism for the mayor.
"The city deserves so much more. This really speaks volumes about Newsom's trustworthiness that he would do this to his best friend," Hall said. "It's sad that people have to see this type of thing unravel to see that this administration is mainly concerned with spin and fooling the public. It's time the truth started coming out."
Newsom fired Hall as executive director of the Treasure Island Development Authority in October after appointing him in 2005. Hall was a member of the Board of Supervisors when Newsom tapped him to lead the agency in August 2004.
"Homelessness, crime, the facts about the 49ers -- everything (Newsom) has touched he's messed up and now he's messing up the relationships of his best friends," Hall said.
After the announcement, Newsom walked into his office with his head bowed, but his press secretary, Peter Ragone, spent at least a half hour outside the Room 200 answering questions about the future of the administration.
Ragone was adamant that the mayor's staff will remain behind Newsom as he seeks re-election in November. He added that top officials in the administration all gathered before today's announcement to discuss the mayor's "dramatic mistake."
"What is the political fallout?" Ragone said. "That's for the media, the pundits, the political talkers to figure out. That's not what we're focused on. What we're focused on is helping the mayor fix anything he needs to fix here in the city ... He's admitted to making a very serious mistake and there's a tremendous amount of weight on his shoulders."
Ragone added that the mayor is relying on friends, family and his "political family" to get through the tough times ahead.
Ammiano said he believes time will tell whether Newsom can recover from the scandal.
"If he's going to prove his character, it's going to be in the way he responds to this," Ammiano said this afternoon. "People allow stumbles, but you only get so many. How he's going to perform and how he's going to behave is going to determine his future. The ball's in his court."
Newsom has a lot of support, Ammiano noted, but the admission of the affair has raised grave concerns among his constituents and colleagues.
"He has morale issues, he has trust issues. Certainly I have deep concerns about judgment," he said.
The scandal will also likely prove difficult for Newsom's staffers, Ammiano said.
"They have to deal with the public reaction as well as their own personal feelings. Therein could be the morale issue," he said.
Ultimately, Newsom's indiscretion will not change what San Franciscans expect of their city leaders, but news of the affair has been a major distraction for lawmakers, Ammiano said.
"It's been messy. I think the worst thing is it's such a distraction to the everyday city governance," he said.
Daly echoed those sentiments and added that the mayor's infidelity goes way beyond politics.
"I have a strong set of core beliefs in politics but they're not as important as personal relationships," said Daly, who added that he felt lucky to be in a committed relationship with his wife of three-and-a-half years. "Respect and trust when you're an elected official is paramount."
In light of the announcement, Newsom canceled a scheduled appearance Thursday afternoon with police Chief Heather Fong and Municipal Transportation Authority Director Nathaniel Ford.
Newsom fired Hall as executive director of the Treasure Island Development Authority in October after appointing him in 2005. Hall was a member of the Board of Supervisors when Newsom tapped him to lead the agency in August 2004.
"Homelessness, crime, the facts about the 49ers -- everything (Newsom) has touched he's messed up and now he's messing up the relationships of his best friends," Hall said.
After the announcement, Newsom walked into his office with his head bowed, but his press secretary, Peter Ragone, spent at least a half hour outside the Room 200 answering questions about the future of the administration.
Ragone was adamant that the mayor's staff will remain behind Newsom as he seeks re-election in November. He added that top officials in the administration all gathered before today's announcement to discuss the mayor's "dramatic mistake."
"What is the political fallout?" Ragone said. "That's for the media, the pundits, the political talkers to figure out. That's not what we're focused on. What we're focused on is helping the mayor fix anything he needs to fix here in the city ... He's admitted to making a very serious mistake and there's a tremendous amount of weight on his shoulders."
Ragone added that the mayor is relying on friends, family and his "political family" to get through the tough times ahead.
Ammiano said he believes time will tell whether Newsom can recover from the scandal.
"If he's going to prove his character, it's going to be in the way he responds to this," Ammiano said this afternoon. "People allow stumbles, but you only get so many. How he's going to perform and how he's going to behave is going to determine his future. The ball's in his court."
Newsom has a lot of support, Ammiano noted, but the admission of the affair has raised grave concerns among his constituents and colleagues.
"He has morale issues, he has trust issues. Certainly I have deep concerns about judgment," he said.
The scandal will also likely prove difficult for Newsom's staffers, Ammiano said.
"They have to deal with the public reaction as well as their own personal feelings. Therein could be the morale issue," he said.
Ultimately, Newsom's indiscretion will not change what San Franciscans expect of their city leaders, but news of the affair has been a major distraction for lawmakers, Ammiano said.
"It's been messy. I think the worst thing is it's such a distraction to the everyday city governance," he said.
Daly echoed those sentiments and added that the mayor's infidelity goes way beyond politics.
"I have a strong set of core beliefs in politics but they're not as important as personal relationships," said Daly, who added that he felt lucky to be in a committed relationship with his wife of three-and-a-half years. "Respect and trust when you're an elected official is paramount."
In light of the announcement, Newsom canceled a scheduled appearance Thursday afternoon with police Chief Heather Fong and Municipal Transportation Authority Director Nathaniel Ford.
Molester's Former Roommate Gets 800 Years In Prison
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- When Frederick Everts was sentenced to 800 years to life in prison Friday for molesting three boys, ages 3, 9 and 11, the case's prosecutor gave the judge graphic descriptions of additional molestations in arguing for the maximum sentence.
Deputy District Attorney Steve Fein told Superior Court Judge Alfonso Fernandez that there have been many other victims in addition to the three boys Everts, 36, molested in San Jose between 2002 and 2005.
"He has admitted to over 40 victims over the course of his life ... including his biological son, who he orally copulated when he was 3 months old," Fein said.
Everts did not speak during the sentencing hearing. Nor did any of his victims address the court.
Everts was convicted approximately a year ago of the San Jose molestations. At the time of the molestations he was sharing a house with convicted serial child molester Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller. Schwartzmiller also molested one of Everts' victims. (Everts and Schwartzmiller pictured)
Everts' attorney, Steve Woodsom, argued that his client did not deserve to receive a harsher sentence than Schwartzmiller, whom authorities have called one of the most prolific child molesters in history.
Schwartzmiller was sentenced last month to 152 years to life in prison for the molestations he committed at the Vineyard Drive home he shared with Everts between 2002 and 2005.
"There are mitigating factors that I would not hesitate to say did not apply in the Schwartzmiller case," Woodson said.
Woodson cited Everts' cooperation with police and his expression of remorse for his actions, neither of which occurred with Schwartzmiller.
Fein argued that he treated both men equally by asking for the maximum possible sentence in each case.
"I'm asking that Mr. Everts be treated exactly the same as Mr. Schwartzmiller. Mr. Schwartzmiller was sentenced to the maximum allowed under the law," Fein said.
Fernandez ultimately sentenced Everts to less than the maximum possible 1,175 years to life in prison because it was unclear whether a number of the 17 felony counts were committed on separate occasions or at the same time as some of the other molestation charges.
A 12-year-old boy, identified only as "M" in court records, testified that Schwartzmiller molested him "more than 20 times." He also confirmed that Schwartzmiller took sexually explicit pictures of him in the bedroom of the man's Vineyard Drive home.
The boy also testified that he lied to police about what Schwartzmiller told him after he discovered a sticky substance on his body one morning.
Deputy District Attorney Steve Fein told Superior Court Judge Alfonso Fernandez that there have been many other victims in addition to the three boys Everts, 36, molested in San Jose between 2002 and 2005.
"He has admitted to over 40 victims over the course of his life ... including his biological son, who he orally copulated when he was 3 months old," Fein said.
Everts did not speak during the sentencing hearing. Nor did any of his victims address the court.
Everts was convicted approximately a year ago of the San Jose molestations. At the time of the molestations he was sharing a house with convicted serial child molester Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller. Schwartzmiller also molested one of Everts' victims. (Everts and Schwartzmiller pictured)
Everts' attorney, Steve Woodsom, argued that his client did not deserve to receive a harsher sentence than Schwartzmiller, whom authorities have called one of the most prolific child molesters in history.
Schwartzmiller was sentenced last month to 152 years to life in prison for the molestations he committed at the Vineyard Drive home he shared with Everts between 2002 and 2005.
"There are mitigating factors that I would not hesitate to say did not apply in the Schwartzmiller case," Woodson said.
Woodson cited Everts' cooperation with police and his expression of remorse for his actions, neither of which occurred with Schwartzmiller.
Fein argued that he treated both men equally by asking for the maximum possible sentence in each case.
"I'm asking that Mr. Everts be treated exactly the same as Mr. Schwartzmiller. Mr. Schwartzmiller was sentenced to the maximum allowed under the law," Fein said.
Fernandez ultimately sentenced Everts to less than the maximum possible 1,175 years to life in prison because it was unclear whether a number of the 17 felony counts were committed on separate occasions or at the same time as some of the other molestation charges.
A 12-year-old boy, identified only as "M" in court records, testified that Schwartzmiller molested him "more than 20 times." He also confirmed that Schwartzmiller took sexually explicit pictures of him in the bedroom of the man's Vineyard Drive home.
The boy also testified that he lied to police about what Schwartzmiller told him after he discovered a sticky substance on his body one morning.
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