Can Doctors get off on crime because of their high status in society?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/12/11/anna.nicole.arraignment/index.html

Some might ask whether doctors are really punished these days for a crime. In the case of Anna Nicole Smith, this past week the two doctors responsible for her did not lose their medical licences.

The two doctors apparently got off because “The Medical Board of California should have asked for the suspension earlier and not eight months after Drs. Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor were first charged, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Wesley said.” The judge also stated that “They’ve not been convicted.”

The two doctors had 23 felonies against them including 3 counts of conspiracy to dispense and administer controlled substances to an addict.

For me personally, I feel that the higher you are in society the more you are being judged by others. Doctors are supposed to maintain a high level of composure and sophistication when dealing with the public. I feel that the doctors should keep their lisences, they made some mistakes but do they diserve to lose something so important like their lisence? That effects their future, their families. It’s not like they conspired to kill Anna Nicole Smith. It Was ultimately her descision!

Leave Tiger Alone!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/02/tiger.woods/index.html

Originally there was a report made that Tiger Woods  had a car accident where he crashed his SUV in front of his Florida home.  This is still under investigation according to the police report. This accident lead into an even bigger controversy,  according to the hospital report Tiger Woods injuries were not adding up. He had multiple lacerations on his face which did not add up to the story behind the car crash.

It is now suggested that his wife found out about Woods having an affair with Jaimee Grubbs leading her to physically harm woods.

US Weekly released a voice message left on Jaimee Grubbs phone:

“Hey, it’s Tiger,” a man says in the recording. “I need you to do me a huge favor. Can you please take your name off your phone? My wife went through my phone and may be calling you.

“So if you can, please take your name off that. … What do you call it? Just have it as a number on the voice mail. Just have it as your telephone number. That’s it, OK? You got to do this for me. Huge. Quickly. All right. Bye.”

I think it it wrong that Woods is having to endure all of this. He made an public apology to the media but it doesn’t seem to be good enough. I honestly believe its the hardest thing to have to deal with the media when it directly involves your family.

The School Budget Crisis

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/23/local/me-schools-budget-cuts23

I have graduated high school, turned 18 years old, ready to begin an exciting future as a freshman in college. The only thing is, its the WORST time for anyone to start college. I have personally experienced the stresses that many freshman go through. I decided to go the community college route rather than attending a 4 year university, thinking that I could save money that way. The only thing is, Santa Monica College is highly populated (30,000 students). And California has made a huge budget change that is affecting MANY college students.

In an article in LA times they reported:

“Under the budget approved by the state Thursday, schools and community colleges will be forced to cut $7.4 billion from their budgets this year and $3.2 billion next year. And a $787-billion federal economic stimulus package that is expected to send billions to school districts isn’t enough to backfill deficits, educators say.”

The thought of what the government is doing to the schools across California is horrifying! It is really hard for low-income families because many have to work a lot just to be able to afford college, and now that the classes are being cut, commuter  students must be overwhelmed.

It was known that CSU’s was known for a fair education at a lower price, same as US’s, but because of the recent raise in tuition, many are in panic on how they will be able to afford college.

Now many should not rule out out of state schools, because they are now pretty similar to the CSU’s and UC’s universities.

I can personally say that it is the worst time for anyone to be starting school or graduating school. Many are lost in the campus eagerly trying to obtain a course, while others have finished school, but aren’t able to find a job due to the economy. Its saddening to know that education can easily be pulled a side.

What some will do for fame!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/13/balloon.boy.heene/index.html

Many have read the shocking story when a boy apparently was trapped in a hot air balloon. Later only to find out that it was just a hoax. According to the report from CNN news:

“Mayumi Heene later admitted the whole thing was a hoax and that Falcon was safe in their home the whole time, authorities said.”

The reason for this apparent hoax is left up to the public to judge. Some say it was to hold on to the brief fame that they were granted, being exposed to the public on a tv show called wife swap.

Richard Heene pleaded guilty to the charges against him reported by CNN news November 13, 2009:

“Richard Heene pleaded guilty in Larimer County Court to a felony charge of attempting to influence a public servant. His wife, Mayumi Heene, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of false reporting to authorities.”

How can authorities really trust civilians these days when parents pull scams like these. To involve a child!

“Millions of people across the country watched the saga on television for nearly two hours as military aircraft tracked the balloon in the air and rescuers chased it below.”

It was outrageous to see the publicity that this family got. In my opinion this story is the most ridiculous story to every hit the public.

But in the end the family got what they wanted, their precious 3 seconds of fame. At what cost? It looks like Richard Heene is facing 90 days in jail and his wife may be facing 60 days in jail!

14 year old boy charged with murder…

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/04/california.boy.slaying/index.html

A 14-year old boy named Raul Renato Castro is facing a 1st degree murder charge, kidnapping charge, molestation charge, and sodomy of a child. It was shocking to read about a 14 year old facing these intense charges. According to the CNN report; a 14 year old took his 4 year old neighbor; molested him and when the victim threatened to tell on him, Raul Renato Castro apparently reacted out of impulse and drowned the victim, then hid him in the dryer.

“Under California law, a 14-year-old is not eligible for the death penalty or a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. If found guilty, Castro could receive no more than 32 years to life plus 15 years” (CNN report).

Its saddening to read this case involving 2 children! Is it fair that Castro cannot receive anymore jail time then 32 year to life plus 15 years? Was it a case of insanity…these questions arise under the circumstances because it involves such a young boy killing another young child.

How was this “good” boy able to pull of such a horrendous crime?

Alleged Assault occurs at Santa Monica Campus….

www.thecorsaironline.com or Santa Monica College Corsair Newspaper

A female SMC student was attacked while walking near the corner of 16th and pearl st. The alleged victim reported that she and the woman she was walking with we attacked for showing affection towards each other.

Another hate crime….you hear it on tv, the news, articles, but when it actually happens to you, you get to see the world for what is really is. The young girl reported:

“He attacked me because he said I looked like a boy and told me to suck his—- before he punched me in the stomach and pushed me on the ground and choked me.”

We constantly feel that the world is a safe, understanding nation. But hate crimes still continue to happen. What should we really fear?

Too westernized….?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/30/arizona.iraqi.daughter/index.html

An Iraqi man was accused of running down his daughter because she was too “westernized.”

CNN reported: “Police in Peoria, Arizona, say Almaleki struck his 20-year-old daughter, Noor Faleh Almaleki, and her friend Amal Edan Khalaf with the Jeep Laredo he was driving in a parking lot in Peoria on October 20.”

To think my mom is hard on me when I’m out with my friends. I couldn’t believe a way of punishing a child is running them down! To think I had it rough with my mom, you just don’t see other peoples living situation. This girl is facing life threatening injuries.

Almaleki was angry with his daughter “as she had become too ‘Westernized’ and was not living according to [the family's] traditional Iraq[i] values,” Peoria police said in a statement last week.

Its just astonishing to hear that this girl is in serious condition, when all she was doing was living her life, might have not been the life her parents wanted, but to run her down….WOW!

Gang rape…why did know one help?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/28/california.gang.rape.bystander/index.html

On a dark Saturday night, a young 15 year old was beaten and gang raped outside a high school homecoming dance.  There was allegedly 20 people that watched or took part in the brutal crime. None of the witnesses to this crime reported what they saw that night to the police.

So the first question that comes to my mind is: Why didn’ t anyone help?

CNN reported:

“Criminology and psychology experts say there could be a variety of reasons why the crime wasn’t reported. Several pointed to a problematic social phenomenon known as the bystander effect. It’s a theory that has played out in lynchings, college riots and white-collar crimes.”

“Kids learn at a young age when they observe bullying that they would rather not get involved because there is a power structure,” Carberry adds.

Its sad to know that people didn’t find it necessary to help this poor girl. What kind of world do we really live in these days, how it is ok for a girl to be beaten and gang raped?

I raise that question to the public. I wonder how the witnesses feel about this crime now that it has been so highly publicized and if they feel bad for not helping her.

How is one supposed to REALLY know?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,537660,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g2:r2:c0.103429:b27006308:z10

How are you to tell the difference between a seasonal flu and the swine flu? Especially if there is an article stating that the test results can be wrong? In an article on Foxnews the associated press reported:

ATLANTA  —  The government’s first study of how well rapid tests diagnose swine flu finds they’re wrong at least half the time.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at rapid tests made by three companies. The tests correctly confirmed swine flu infections only 10 percent to 51 percent of the time. The tests were better at diagnosing seasonal flu.

At first, reading this article you feel well that’s a good thing. But on the other hand Fox news made another swine flu report with a headline stating “86 children dead from H1N1″

“The swine flu is causing an unprecedented amount of illness for this early in the fall, with the deaths of 11 more children reported in the past week. And less vaccine than expected will be ready by month’s end, federal health officials said Friday.”

To me, it is hard to really understand how threatened I truly am to this flu. It’s hard when the media reports that a diagnosis on the swine flu is sometimes wrong, yet there is still deaths being caused by this flu.

How is one supposed to REALLY know?

A Reporter feels the horror of a Camera

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/03/illinois.andrews.arrest/index.html

A ESPN reporter named Erin Andrews felt the horror of a camera, when a 48 year old Michael David Barrett posted nude pictures of Erin Andrews on the internet. Michael David Barrett is now facing interstate stalking charges.

According to the article Barrett is accused of taking nude pictures while Andrews was nude in two hotel rooms. And Barrett allegedly filmed seven of the eight videos at a hotel room in Nashville, Tennessee.

The tables were turned for this reporter, when Erin Andrews was stalked, and embarrassed by the internet by the nude pictures taken of her.  Will this incident change the media world? Meaning will reporters think more about they post?