Wednesday, May 23, 2012 @ 6:59pm

Teen suspended for her anti-bullying video

Hailey Bennett seemed like a perfectly happy 12-year-old girl. But she wasn't.

Every day Hailey was bullied at school. Again. And again. Hailey's mom died when she was three. The girl's dad abuses Hailey. Feeling alone and abandoned, she killed herself on May 14, 2012.

Hailey is the fictional character created for a video a New York student made with an anti-bullying message. The real girl behind the video, 15-year-old Jessica Barba was called into the principal's office - she thought for praise for her video. Instead, she was suspended for five days because the class project video caused a "disruption" in the school's learning environment. Really.

Barba shot the six-minute video for an assignment in her business and communications class at Longwood High School in New York. She says she had been asked to create a persuasive promo or advertisement.

In the video, Barba plays a girl who is regularly bullied, falls into a depression, is taunted on social media sites and eventually kills herself. Statements at the beginning and the end say it is a fictitious story.

Superintendent Allan Gerstenlauer says the video was "unfortunate in that it created a substantial disruption to the school."

Watch the video that got the girl suspended for a week, and let me know what you think:

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 @ 5:11pm

Ban of Indian mascots is 'disrespectful'

It's another form of disrespect.

Tribes in Oregon aren't offended with schools using "Braves" "Warriors" and "Indians" as mascots. They are upset that state school leaders have voted to eliminate all Native mascots in public schools.

"It's easier to ban Native American images than it is to deal with the real issue," says Shiobhan Taylor, a spokesperson for Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

Last week, on a 5-1 vote, the Oregon Board of Education banned public schools from using American Indian names and mascots for their athletic teams, out of a concern they disparage native people.

About a dozen Oregon schools have to change their names, and they will get no funding to make the change. The schools are threatened with losing state funds if they don't change mascots and images by 2017.

AP file photo of the Mohawk High School girls basketball team in Marcola, Oregon

Washington hasn't made a state-wide decision on Native American names. The discussion comes up frequently in schools districts across the United States. The National Congress of American Indians estimates that there are fewer than 1,000 such mascots left nationwide.

"The Board of Education needs to put their energy and their attention and their talent into making sure that the curriculum our children have in our school system teaches the accurate story of Oregon's tribes. Our children unfortunately just don't get that."

Most of what students learn about Indigenous people begins and ends with the Plains Indians. They're an archetype in literature and art for American Indians everywhere.

There are nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon and 27 in Washington.

What do Oregon students know about the Umpqua, Klamath, or Molala tribes? Do Washington students understand who the Snoqualmie, Suquamish and other Northwest Indians were and are?

"Unless the teacher has the time, which god knows their schedules are so booked, and the resources to do their own research, there's no curriculum there that the school system is providing to them," says Taylor. "We would honored and excited to teach students about our culture and that we are still a part of the community. We didn't go anywhere."

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde hope state school leaders will reconsider their decision. They'd prefer working with schools to come up with a respectful portrayal of a mascot.

"We certainly wouldn't want caricatures, we wouldn't want disrespectful things like the tomahawk chop or a war dance, those would not be respectful, nor are they appropriate to Native American culture," she says.

Taylor says she's never been personally offended by the look of an Oregon school mascot.

By LINDA THOMAS

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 @ 6:17pm

Lolo Jones, a role model moms will love

She's strong, she's fast, she's hot, she's from Iowa and she's a virgin. For many reasons, Lolo Jones could be the star of the upcoming Olympic games.

AP Photo/Eric Risberg. The Register has a photo gallery of 174 shots of Lolo Jones here.

Jones has an interesting backstory that's being detailed everywhere from "Rolling Stone" magazine to her home state's newspaper The Des Moines Register. ESPN featured her in a documentary earlier this week, and HBO's "Real Sports" broadcast an interview Tuesday night.

At 29-years-old, Lolo Jones has already had a life of overcoming challenges. She's a multiracial, devout Christian who grew up "dirt poor" with her mom and four siblings in Iowa.

Jones, who competes in the women's 100-meter hurdles, described living in the basement of a Salvation Army during the ESPN documentary about her life that was broadcast this week.

"I definitely would say, by sixth grade, I was a professional shoplifter and not because I wanted to. I'm not going out to shoplift earrings or clothes or shoes like the average teenager," Jones says. "I was shoplifting frozen dinners at a grocery store. I could shoplift four frozen dinners, easily."

Now she's easily one of the biggest track and field stars in America. She has a sculpted, perfect body, and on top of everything else, she's opened up about her ongoing struggles to remain a virgin.

"It's just something, a gift that I want to give to my husband," Jones said on the HBO special. "But please, understand, this journey has been hard. If there's virgins out there, I'm going to let them know, it's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life - harder than training for the Olympics, harder than graduating from college, has been to stay a virgin before marriage."

It was on Twitter earlier this year that Jones announced to her thousands of followers that she's a virgin.

"I've been tempted," Jones said in the HBO piece. "I've had guys tell me, 'You know, if you have sex, it will help you run faster.'"

Jones says she's gotten a lot of support for her beliefs about virginity - mostly from moms.

By LINDA THOMAS

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 @ 5:22pm

Seattle Sonics fans are a 'bunch of babies'

"Seattle 'fans' are a bunch of babies. They only cared once they started winning," says Toby Parkinson.

"If Seattle fans miss their team that much, why didn't they support them when they had the chance?" asks Matthew Gray.

The Twitter bitterness continues as the Oklahoma City Thunder moves on to the Western Conference Finals for the second straight season.

A not-so-sweet tweet featured a t-shirt created by an Oklahoma company that had an updated Sonics logo on the front and a "Thank you Seattle - Okc" on the back. After that, the company reportedly got death threats and stopped selling them. A Twitter pal reminds me, Seattle companies created less than courteous shirts too.

People who weren't here when the Sonics were snatched away from us are confused. Their comments on Twitter make a point.

"Seattle cry babies didn't even go to the games. That's why you lost your team morons," Sour Schultz writes on a blog comment. I don't think he's related to Howard Schultz.

We're talking about this on Facebook too, where most people believe those outside of Seattle don't understand why we're still angry about the way the team was torn from us.

"Clay Bennett made the team bad and then started to add talent went they moved to OKC. A bad team on the court leads to people not wanting to go to games," says Joe Nelms, explaining why others can't look at attendance alone to tell the story of the declining Seattle Sonics. "They were in the city of Seattle for 41 years. That's not something you can let go very easily."

Why haven't we let go?

Sickamore Seattle doesn't like the way Oklahoma is "arrogantly embracing a team that was kidnapped through greed, deception, lies, speculation and ignorance then posturing as if they're the somehow heralded underdogs. The fans didn't let the team down, our elected officials did; big difference."

"I think the 'get over it' mentality comes from not understanding what the team meant to some people," says Peter Sessum. "Teams mean a lot to some, not all, fans. Dogs aren't just pets, they are part of a the family. Cars aren't just a mode of transportation, people care about them. I didn't cry when the team left, but I feel for the fans that were hurt by the move and I think making fun of them isn't cool."

By LINDA THOMAS

Monday, May 21, 2012 @ 5:48pm

Seattle woman tries to save denim factory

There are about 2,800 miles between Seattle, Washington and a denim plant in Liberty, South Carolina. The two cities are connected by a Seattle woman who's on a mission to save American manufacturers and Made in the USA clothing.

I first talked with Liz Havlin five months ago when she learned how challenging it can be to create a product in the USA. Since then Havlin, executive director of a non-profit called WearUSA, held a fashion show of clothing manufactured in the Northwest at the Space Needle.

Now she's set up shop in South Carolina to try to reopen Liberty Denim.

The denim plant was once the economic heart of Liberty, she says, employing nearly 200 people. There were two textile companies in the small South Carolina town at one point.

Liberty Denim, built in the early 1900s, closed in December and the company filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

Havlin doesn't seem daunted by the defunct plant.

"Our goal is to save the mill," says Havlin. "I've been in SC by myself plugging away and really need a shout out from Seattle to keep me from feeling like I'm not crazy trying to save one of the last denim factories in the U.S.A."

Her group created a Facebook page for support. People can "adopt a brick" for $25 to fund the effort. The money goes toward the group's efforts to buy back the mill in bankruptcy court. They're trying to raise $150,000.

"If we could just fix what's been wronged and save this factory, I really feel like it could be a big win for the people," Havlin says.

Ultimately she'd like to have former employees own the plant. Workers would have a "huge say" in day-to-day operation of the mill.

Everyone, from the person who sweeps the floor of the plant to the CEO, would share responsibilities and decision making.

But is that idea practical?

It's worked before, she says. Havlin points to the success SynTerra has had. That's an environmental firm in Greenville. There are 40 employees and half of them own 100 percent of the company, which consistently shows up on "best places to work" lists in South Carolina.

Havlin and her supporters will head to bankruptcy court May 29th. They plan to fight liquidators who want to buy the mill and sell the assets of the building.

By LINDA THOMAS

Monday, May 21, 2012 @ 1:52pm

Some thanks from Oklahoma City Thunder

As if it doesn't hurt enough that Seattle lost its Sonics to Oklahoma City, a t-shirt company there has printed up shirts for Thunder fans thanking Seattle for their team. Isn't that nice?

The shirts, created by Oklahoma City-based War Paint Clothing Company, show what appears to be the classic Sonics logo with the city skyline inside a basketball on the front. But instead of the green and yellow with the Space Needle, the logo is blue with the Oklahoma City skyline.

On the back is the message: "Thank you Seattle - Okc"

The company posted the shirts on Twitter. After getting some pushback from Seattle Sonics fans, a some "threats," the company decided to stop selling the shirt late Monday.

Courtesy Warpaint Clothing Company's Twitter feed

Kelley Tubbs lovin his shirt

The Thunder were the Seattle SuperSonics until 2008. That’s when the ownership group that bought the team two years earlier reached a settlement with the City of Seattle to get out of its lease at KeyArena.

Oklahoma elminated the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals with a 4th win Monday night.

In Oklahoma City, at least 8 people were shot last night following the NBA playoff game. Police say scuffles broke out in the crowd as it walked towards a nearby nightlife area. A group of men apparently opened fire on a group of women who were hassling each other.

By LINDA THOMAS

Sunday, May 20, 2012 @ 5:10pm

Sizing up Puget Sound area health clubs

The most expensive health clubs and veterinarians do not offer the highest quality. That's the conclusion of a consumer group that rated hundreds of service businesses in the Puget Sound region.

It's easy to compare the price and quality of laptops or big-screen televisions online and in stores. Comparing health clubs, house cleaners or vets is tricky because service providers don't list their prices.

"They're hoping you won't comparison shop," says Robert Krugoff, President of Checkbook.org . "With products, people do compare prices, and prices tend to line up with quality fairly well. With services, we've found more expensive places do not necessarily offer the best quality."

Checkbook.org is a non-profit and a spin off of Consumer Reports. Like the consumer magazine and website, they don't rely on advertising, so their research is more objective.

Puget Sound Consumers' Checkbook rates local services from auto repair shops and plumbers to vets and health clubs. Their research includes consumer surveys and undercover price shopping over a one-year period.

"We spend an enormous amount of time getting quote after quote where the service provider doesn't realize that it's actually Checkbook doing it," Krugoff says.

The consumer group looked at 195 area veterinarian facilities, 87 fitness clubs, 43 travel agencies, 21 house cleaners and other services for its spring/summer edition.

To evaluate vets, one of the things Checkbook compared was the price for spaying a 30 pound, 6-month-old dog.

"We found prices ranging from $69 all the up to $469 for exactly the same procedure," says Krugoff. "In terms of customer satisfaction, the most expensive veterinarians were not rated the best."

Among the local vets who received high marks for quality and price are: Animal Hospital of Maple Valley; Auburn Veterinary Hospital; Cascade Veterinary Hospital in Federal Way; Des Moines Veterinary Hospital; Rainier Beach Veterinary Hospital; and Highline Veterinary Hospital in Burien.

Sizing up fitness clubs, Checkbook found a lot of people waste money on health clubs.

They should consider the alternatives first like working out at home, or going to a local recreational facility if you need more structure.

"We found some clubs that were rated superior by more than 80 percent of their customers. Some where it was down below 20 percent, so that's a pretty dramatic difference in quality of these places," he says.

The only chain-wide health clubs that received Checkbook's top rating for quality are Curves and the YMCA.

LA Fitness had a low 38 percent rating for friendliness. 24 Hour Fitness had low ratings for quality of the facility and quality of instruction. The club with the highest number of complaints to the Attorney General's office, with 11, was Allstar Fitness in Seattle.

Local clubs with top ratings include: Ballard Health Club; PRO Sports Club in Bellevue; and Bainbridge Athletic Club.

There's a dramatic difference in club costs too - ranging from $300 to $900 or more a year.

Krugoff suggests with all services, especially health clubs, make sure the person trying to sell a membership is aware that you're shopping around for the best price.

"In some ways it's kind of like an auto dealer where you get your best price as you're walking out the door to go to your car," says Krugoff. "You want them to be aware that you are looking at the alternatives because almost all service providers have some flexibility in terms of what they charge you."

By LINDA THOMAS

Sunday, May 20, 2012 @ 5:07pm

Banning Native American school mascots

Banks High School in Oregon will no longer be the home of the Braves. You won't find Indians or Warriors in Oregon in a few years either.

The Oregon State Board of Education has banned public schools from using American Indian names and mascots for their athletic teams, out of a concern they disparage native American people.

Researcher Stephanie Fryberg says the use of Native Americans as mascots "devalues and limits individual identity."

"I do not believe any of our schools with Native American mascots intended to be disrespectful, however intent is not enough," Superintendent Susan Castillo says.

The board held over eight hours of public testimony on the topic and received over 700 pieces of written testimony.

"Our role as educators needs to be to create a safe, supportive, and welcoming environment for all of our students - an environment which honors them for who they are as individuals with a rich and varied cultural history," Castillo says. "We can no longer accept these stereotypical images for the sake of tradition when they are hurting our kids."

The Banks High School mascot on the wall of their gym in Banks, Oregon. Oregon now has the toughest restrictions on American Indian nicknames, mascots and logos. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

Oregon’s ban prohibits using a name, symbol, or image that depicts or refers to an American Indian Tribe, individual, custom, or tradition that is used by a public school as a mascot, nickname, logo, letterhead, or team name.

Prohibited names include: Redskins; Savages; Chiefs; Chieftains; and Braves. Schools may continue to use the name "Warriors" as long as it is not combined with a symbol or image that depicts or refers to an American Indian Tribe, individual, custom, or tradition.

The move is believed to be one of the nation's most sweeping prohibitions of its kind in favor of native Americans who say their culture is stereotyped by a number of sports teams.

The vote in Oregon was 5-1, and schools have until July of 2017 to comply with the decision.

Washington has a number of schools with Native American mascots. You'll find "Braves" at Bethel High School and Seattle's Bishop Blanchet High School. Clover Park High School has Warriors.

Several years ago, Issaquah also banned mascots based on racial stereotypes. Issaquah High School has done away with its long time "Indians" mascot. They are now the "Eagles."

Is this mascot inspiring or offensive? Seven schools in Oregon will have to change their nicknames and mascots or risk losing state funding. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

By LINDA THOMAS

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