Report: D.C. high school football power DeMatha caught in prostitution scandal September 9th, 2012
In this new era of high school football, traveling out-of-state has become a rite of passage for some of the nation’s top teams.
St. Thomas Aquinas, winner of two national championships, has traveled to Ohio, Texas and Alabama to play games. Miramar and Cypress Bay have both traveled to Texas. University School opened the season in Ohio and later this month, Cooper City will travel to South Carolina.
Moving an entire high school football team through an airport and into hotel rooms can be a logistical nightmare, and this week, one high-profile team learned first-hand how difficult it can be to manage dozens of teenage athletes.
According to a story in the Washington Post, five players from D.C. powerhouse DeMatha have been removed from the team after an incident at the team’s hotel during a road trip to North Carolina. The Post goes on to report the players hired prostitutes from a North Carolina call girl service and some engaged in sexual activities with those prostitutes.
Sources told the Washington Post that DeMatha’s school officials performed a bed check at 1:30 a.m., and a hallway check at 4 a.m. The school took 18 adults on the trip for supervision.
The players have been removed from the team. Two have left the Catholic school and two more have been recommended for expulsion. A fifth had a disciplinary hearing pending when the Post published its report.
South Florida coaches have long touted the benefits of playing out-of-state games. Clearly, playing another strong team can pay dividends in terms of playoff preparation. There’s increased exposure for players working to earn scholarships. And St. Thomas athletic director George Smith has long hailed the team-building aspect of traveling for games.
But the incident at DeMatha highlights that there are still plenty of challenges and safety measures aren’t always 100 percent secure.
It’d be silly for teams to put off traveling because of an incident like this, but I’m willing to bet coaches across the country are working to find additional measures to keep players in their hotel rooms and visitors out of them.
How would you try to prevent a situation like this? An adult in every room? Hourly bed checks? Rotating coaches in the hallways throughout the night? Or is all that overkill?
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WFAA report raises questions about dealings between Kimball’s boys basketball team, Under Armour June 17th, 2012
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Report: Pop Warner limits contact in youth football practices June 14th, 2012
At least one major youth football organization has decided it’s time to look at making some rule changes when it comes to contact in practice.
On Wednesday, Pop Warner announced it would make changes regarding how much contact young football players can have in practice. According to a report by ESPN, Pop Warner will limit contact drills to one-third of practice and ban full-speed, head-on blocking and tackling drills in which players are more than three yards apart.
The changes come after months (and maybe years) of discussion about concussions and their effects on young brains. While working on our special concussion package this spring, I spoke with Dr. Robert Cantu of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Boston University School of Medicine.
Cantu, one of the leaders in research about concussions and CTE, suggested that unless major rule changes were made, it was time to consider limiting contact sports for children under age 14. It seems some of those rule changes are coming.
To read more on the Pop Warner changes, follow this link to see ESPN’s report. And to our special report on concussions, click here.
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Plano spring football report: Wildcats ready to rebound after disappointing 2011 season May 16th, 2012
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How to Do a Book Report: Writing an A Paper with Great Ease April 1st, 2012
For some reasons, many students dislike writing book reports. In their opinion, such papers are too monotonous and time-consuming to write. Yet, they forget that the main purpose of such assignments is to develop the analytical and critical skills of a person. This article will show how to do a good book report with ease.
How to Do a Book Report: Getting Started
Writing a book report is not a very difficult task, if a person knows how to read and analyze literary works. There are several issues and questions that you need to keep in mind while reading a book. Take a look at some of them:
- The genre of the book. What are the most distinctive features of this genre?
- The setting. Where and when does the action take place?
- Themes. What is the main idea or ideas that the author advocates?
- Title of the book. Suppose that you have never read the book, what does it title suggest? How did your understanding of this title change while reading this book?
- Characters’ names. Is there any particular meaning to the character’s names? Did the writer have a specific purpose in choosing those names?
How to Do a Book Report: Writing Your Paper
People who don’t know how to do a book report often don’t know how to structure this paper. Moreover, in some cases, they cannot put forward very convincing arguments. So, here are some tips that will help you to have a good structure and convincing arguments:
- In the opening paragraph, you should name both the author and the book. Additionally, you should briefly discuss the genre of this work. Finally, state the main idea of the author.
- Describe the most essential elements of the plot. You may briefly summarize the book, but remember that summary is not the main purpose of a book report.
- Discuss the main characters of the book. Which one is the most memorable and why? You should also tell how these characters help the writer express the main ideas.
- Discuss the themes of the book. You need to focus on those ideas or questions that the author emphasizes.
- Make a brief assessment of this book. In particular, you need to explain why you like or dislike it. At this point, you also need to identify the strong and weak points of the book.
How to Do a Book Report: Concluding Remarks
If you follow these steps, you’ll see that writing a report is not a very difficult task. You should view this assignment as a good chance to demonstrate your analytical and critical skills. Hopefully, you’ll manage to write an excellent book report.
Report: Football coach loses job after posting nude photo on Facebook February 16th, 2012
With the growth of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, many high school coaches across South Florida constantly remind their young athletes to be responsible online. With many college recruiters using social media sites in their evaluation process, high school coaches know how quickly one questionable photo or post can tarnish a young athlete’s reputation–and maybe harm their chances for a college scholarship.
This week, however, it was a high school coach in Maine that learned how costly an online mistake can be.
According to a report in the Sun Journal of Lewiston, Maine, Oxford Hills football coach Paul Withee stepped down after school officials received a complaint that he had posted a nude photo of himself on Facebook.
From the Sun Journal,
“I’m embarrassed, I’m ashamed, I’m humiliated,” Withee said Monday. He said the picture was on the social media page for no more than a half-hour when he discovered what had happened and tried to correct it.
“I’ve never done anything like this before and I never will again,” he said.
“You have to be careful with what you do with social media. You can get yourself into a lot of trouble and something you love can be taken away from you just like this,” he said.
The Sun Journal reports the photo was meant to be shared privately, but was accidentally posted publicly. The paper also reports that school district officials said Withee had none of the district’s students listed as friends on his Facebook.
By all accounts, it seems this was a terrible mistake. Unfortunately, it was a mistake that cost one coach his job.
Coincidentally, the story is making headlines just as school officials in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are considering formal policies regarding teachers and adminstrators’ interaction with students on social media sites.
I’m curious to hear your thoughts. Was this coach right in his decision to resign? And are South Florida schools behind in addressing social media interactions between teachers and students?
Below is a link to the full Sun Journal report, as well as a local story on South Florida schools and social media.
Let me know what you think.
Sun Journal: Oxford Hills football coach resigns over nude Facebook photo
English Report Writing: What Should Be Definitely Included? November 7th, 2011
The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Well, English report writing presupposes that students should consider what is written in the book and what is meant. What is English report writing? In such reports students should consider some literary work. Do you need tips for successful English report writing?
- To write an English report successfully, you must read the book. Besides, while reading the book make notes: write down your ideas and some quotes which can support your ideas.
- Of course, you will need to summarize the content of the book. It is very important to remember that the major aim of your English report writing is revealing your analysis, not bare retelling, so your summary should not become the major part of your report.
- As a rule you while English report writing you will have to refer to other sources while analyzing the book. Do not forget to format your references properly.
- You will definitely need to analyze the main characters of the book. So, do pay attention to them while reading the book. Of course, while English report writing you will need to analyze the idea of the book. Here you should be quite careful. Do not confuse analysis and your point of view. You will have space to reveal your opinion on the book in conclusion part.
Finally, English report writing can be enjoyable since you are allowed to express your opinion. Here you may rely on your ideas only, do not refer to some smart academics. Reveal your thoughts.
Well, these are five essential features of English report writing. If you include everything you should include in your paper, you will get positive results.
Report: Former HS basketball impostor Montimere facing civil lawsuit August 18th, 2011
FROM THE WEB: According to the Odessa American, former Dillard basketball player Guerdwich Montimere is now facing a civil lawsuit filed by the mother of his sexual assualt victim in Odessa, Texas.
Last month, Montimere, 23, pleaded guilty on multiple felony charges stemming from his actions while pretending to be a 16-year-old basketball player at Odessa’s Permian High. While pretending to be Jerry Joseph, Montimere had sex with a 15-year-old girl. The American reports girl’s mother has now filed a civil lawsuit to keep Montimere from potentially profiting from his crime.
To read the full story, click here for the report in the Odessa American.
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Building Your Credit Score – A Surprising List of Who Can See Your Credit Report
Who has access to the personal financial information contained in your credit report might surprise you. It’s important to understand the implications, especially if you are trying to rebuild your credit, obtain more credit, or conduct credit repair.
The List is Long
These organizations can legitimately request your credit report:
Student Loan and Grant Lenders – You usually won’t be denied a loan for bad credit. But you can’t get another federal loan if you already have one in default.
Utility Companies – Bad credit won’t prevent you from getting service unless you are in arrears or owe on an old account. Payment plans or assistance is sometimes available.
Mortgage Lenders – If you try to get a loan greater than 0k, mortgage lenders can access more extensive, historical information than other creditors and they review it very carefully these days.
Potential Creditors – If you initiate a transaction or accept a credit offer a credit report can be requested. Too many requests can have a negative impact on your credit report so don’t authorize a request if you are just contemplating a purchase.
Judgment Creditors – If someone receives a judgment against you, they can look at your report to determine if they should start collection efforts against you, or if they have to hire someone to locate you or your assets.
Collection Agencies – If you have an account sent into collection, the collection agency can request a copy of your credit report to learn more about your assets, to find you, or initiate collection efforts
Insurance Companies – Insurance companies can access to your report if you apply for a new policy, but you must give consent if it contains medical information. If you are trying to obtain a life insurance policy greater than 0k, the insurance company can access older information, like what’s available to the mortgage lender.
Employers – You must give permission before an employer can access your credit report. Employers often require this when conducting a background check on a potential employee or to assess a current employee for promotion.
Government Agencies – Your credit report can be requested by government agencies to determine eligibility for public assistance. They look for hidden assets or income – not unpaid bills. Your credit report can also be used when considering child support payments or eligibility for various state licenses. Government agencies can also access your information when investigating terrorist activities.
The good news is that there are still many people and organizations that are not allowed access to your credit report. For instance, it cannot be used in immigration, child custody, divorce, or other legal proceedings. The district attorney cannot access your report for either criminal or civil case investigations. To monitor unauthorized use, request a copy of your credit report at least once a year and review the list of inquiries. Look for unfamiliar names or businesses on the list. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you can sue anyone who has requested your credit report fraudulently.
If you want to repair or maintain your credit, you need to consider who has access to this most personal information. Too many inquiries into your credit score can negatively affect your efforts. Knowing this and understanding how your information is used to evaluate your credit puts you in the drivers seat when it comes to building your credit rating and achieving your financial dreams.
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