CMA announces 2009 inductees

The Country Music Association announced their 2009 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees today.

Charlie McCoy is the 2009 inductee for Recording and Touring Artist. McCoy was introduced by friend and 2007 inductee Mel Tillis.

Roy Clark is the 2009 inductee for Career Achieving National Prominence from World War II to 1975. Clark was introduced by friend and 2003 inductee Carl Smith.

Barbara Mandell is the 2009 inductee for Career Achieving National Prominence from 1975 to the present. Mandell was introduced by sister Louise Mandrell.

Congratulations to this trio for their achievements and success in the country music industry.

For more information on the Country Music Hall of Fame, please visit their Web site at: http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/.

Don't Taser me babe!

The summation is two 18-year-old girls were fighting at Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach, Fla. In an attempt to break up the fight, the resource officer (a police officer assigned to keep peace and order at the school) decided to Taser them.

Both girls were immediately taken to the hospital. Separate hospitals actually - just in case, I guess.

"Tasering them, that's serious. They could've done some serious damage to her, nerve damage or whatever. You don't just Tase somebody like that. That's a lot of voltage going through her body," said Janice Robinson, mother of one of the girls, to Local 10.

This is absolutely and utterly an unnecessary use of force. Fights are terrible but maybe if these girls had pulled out weapons, a taser gun might have been called for.

Whatever happened to the days of teachers pulling students apart while shouting "anyone standing here in ten minutes gets detention for a week!"

Honestly, I don't think it's such a bad idea to just let students brawl for a few minutes. It might be somewhat barbaric, but it could allow them to work off some steam before planting their butts in the confines of in-school suspension.

And let's not kid ourselves, as soon as these girls are back on their feet, they'll be back at each other's throats. This time though, it'll be out of the Taser's watchful range.

As for the officer, nothing was said about how he'll be handled. Maybe a lawsuit from the parents of the kids would send a message that says protection that a firm grip is better than an electric shock.

SIDENOTE: The event actually took place at 7:30 a.m. Can't kids today at least wait until after grown-ups have had their morning coffee?


ORIGINAL STORY:

Officer Shoots 2 Girls With Taser Gun At High School
BSO: Resource Officer Stops Students Fighting

POSTED: Monday, February 2, 2009

UPDATED: 5:00 am EST February 3, 2009

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- A school resource officer shocked two teenage girls with a Taser gun at a high school in order to stop a fight Monday morning, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.

BSO said the two 18-year-old girls began fighting at about 7:30 a.m. at Blanche Ely High School. They were identified as Kayla Robinson and Latia Johnson.

Before the first school bell rang, a school resource officer came upon a group of girls locked in a brawl. He tried to break it up, but when the students refused to back off, another deputy fired his Taser gun, striking both Robinson and Johnson, Local 10's Roger Lohse reported.

Both girls were taken in for medical clearance. One went to North Broward Medical Center, and the other went to Imperial Point Medical Center.

The teenagers were OK, but Robinson's mother, Janice Robinson, said she is shocked the deputy did not find a safer way to break up the fight.

"Tasering them, that's serious. They could've done some serious damage to her, nerve damage or whatever. You don't just Tase somebody like that. That's a lot of voltage going through her body," Janice Robinson said.

Local 10 took Robinson's concerns to BSO, which provided a copy of the agency's policy on when deputies are allowed to draw their Tasers. Section 6.4 reads:

"When all other alternatives to restrain, secure and prevent injuries have failed and/or there may be a likely risk of injury to the deputy."

In this case, BSO said there were hundreds of other students gathered around as the school resource deputy physically tried to separate the girls. The second deputy thought the crowd was becoming unruly and felt the Taser was the safest way to restore order.

"You have a school resource deputy there. At any time, someone could have even reached for his weapon. So you want to gain control of the situation as soon as possible. You want to minimize any injuries, and you want to protect everyone that's involved -- our deputies, the students, everyone," said Veda Coleman-Wright of BSO.

Kayla Robinson, Johnson, 18-year-old Ashley French and two juveniles are charged with misdemeanor counts of simple battery and disrupting a school function.

The two juveniles were released to their parents. The other three were expected to post $1,000 bond to be released Monday evening.

It is unclear what sort of punishment the students will face from the school district.

Copyright 2009 by Post-Newsweek Stations.

Pole dancing distracts students

Anyone who says that they wouldn't get distracted by a pole-dancing tutorial during their lunch break is outright lying.

And this was exactly the result of a risque display during a health drive at a London school.

Apparently, the school hired 32-year-old Sam Reemer, owner of the pole-dancing company "The Art of Dance," to display modern fitness pole dancing as a part of the schools health drive. Unfortunately for the school, the 1000-something teens were more inclined to take videos and pictures with their cell phones than absorb the exercise lesson.

The Sun paraphrased Reemer as saying "pole dancing is appropriate for young teenagers at school as it is a mix of dance moves and gymnastics and is excellent for fitness."

Similar workout programs like "Flirty Girl Fitness" and "pole-aerobic" classes are becoming increasing popular in the USA. But is the price of good fitness coming at the sacrifice of a moral standard? Is there a morality price attached to good health?

All I really know is I wish we had pole dancers displaying techniques during lunchtime. It would have been an incentive for me not to sneak off campus everyday.

ORIGINAL STORY:

School holds pole dance class

By: Vince Soodin, The Sun

Gawping teenagers watched a busty brunette give a pole dance lesson during their school lunch break.

A packed crowd of around 1,000 teenage students – aged 14 to 19 – saw the saucy display as part of a health drive.

Students videoed the dances on their mobiles.

A row has now erupted at South Devon College in Paignton after the demonstration prompted a wave of complaints from teachers.

The demo – held in a public area of the school – was run by Sam Remmer of pole dancing company The Art of Dance.

The 32-year-old said she was invited as part of the school’s Be Healthy Week.

But returning to the college two days later for the second demonstration she was told to move inside the sports hall and away from the main public area as there had been “a number of complaints”.

She was told staff had complained that after the first performance pupils were more interested in watching their mobile phone footage than they were in their afternoon classes.

Mrs Remmer said: “I was told pupils were distracted from their afternoon lessons because they were swapping pictures and videos.”

Mrs Remmer also said she had agreed to carry out the demo for free – providing she could post videos of the event on the internet for advertising.

However when teachers saw the videos on YouTube they demanded Mrs Remmer took them down.

She said: “The college are trying to distance themselves from the display as much as possible. I was contacted by the vice principal who argued that I should not be making the event public.

"I consented to removing the videos that had students in them as they had not signed any consent forms, but I refused to remove the videos filmed in the sports hall as they did not feature any students or references to the college."

Mrs Remmer said unless people are educated in the differences between modern fitness pole dancing and lap dancing then “negative stereotypes will not go away”.

She said pole dancing is appropriate for young teenagers at school as it is a mix of dance moves and gymnastics and is excellent for fitness.

The college has refused to comment on the issue.

But vice principal Pat Denham did say there was a “pole fitness demonstration but no pole dancing” and the college had received no “official” complaints.

The college has contacted Mrs Remmer and demanded she remove all videos relating to the display from the internet.