| Video shows danger of substance abuse
A teenage girl lies on the floor dead from alcohol poisoning. Her friends have scattered, and what started out as a weekend party has ended in tragedy.That is the ending scene of the video "The Secret Lives of Teens" produced by FoolProof, an improvisational group of Carroll County high school students that tackles social issues. Daniel Fager, a former member of the group and a senior at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, stepped in to write and direct for the video. He said that while not every party ends with a friend dying, it was important for the group to show the possibility to teens and their parents.FoolProof director Paul Zimmermann said the group's purpose is to raise awareness, and the ending of "Secret Lives" helps spark discussion."Kids today are going to more extremes," he said.
A staggering price tag for illegal drinks
The costs of underage drinking are staggering.
A combination of medical care, work loss, pain and suffering associated with problems resulting from alcohol use by youths cost Americans $60.3 billion in 2005, according to the Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center. The Maryland-based center was established by the U.S. Department of Justice to help states and local communities enforce underage drinking laws, prevent underage drinking, and thus eliminate the consequences associated with alcohol use by those banned by law from drinking it because they are under 21.
Nolan Howe, 21, of Beach Haven knows those consequences all too well.
In August 2006 Howe was caught drinking and driving when he collided with another vehicle while driving about 10 mph, he said.
Princeton to cap on-campus drinking
PRINCETON BOROUGH -- Boozing the Princeton University campus is about to become a whole lot harder -- at least, that's the hope of school officials. In the aftermath of the tragedy at Rider University, where a freshman died earlier this year after a night of binge drinking in a hazing-related incident, several colleges in Mercer County have adopted tougher policies against on-campus drinking. Princeton University is no exception. Students walking yesterday among the university's c Gothic revival and ivy-covered dormitories described Princeton as one of the more social Ivy League institutions, where drinking on-campus is a norm on weekends and hard liquor is plentiful. "Alcohol is bigger here than people think. On the weekends, the dorms become social centers for drinking and winding down from school stressors," said sophomore Xinyi Duan, who resides in the Forbes College dormitory.
Teen Detention Centers Filling Up
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Overcrowding and staff shortages are having an impact on Oklahoma's juvenile justice agency. The director of the Office of Juvenile Affairs says the agency is running out of room to put juveniles and is struggling to find enough people to watch over them. Director Gene Christian says the situation isn't much different than the crisis facing Oklahoma's prisons. Christian says that while the state Corrections Department can cram more inmates into its prisons, the juvenile justice agency must stick to strict ratios of one staff member per 10 teens during the day and one to 12 at night. The juvenile crunch is worsened by a shortage in staff. Christian says he's had to reduce the number of available beds because he can't fill open positions for detention workers.
Driver in fatal accident sued
Twelve days after a fatal collision, the two surviving members of Russellville's Olsen family sued Larry Gene Welch for actual and punitive damages.
Welch, 55, Russellville, was charged last week with two criminal counts of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of Jean Olsen, 45, and her son, Tobias Olsen, 17, in the Nov. 4 accident on Route C, near Route U in western Cole County.Welch also was charged with two counts of second-degree assault, for causing injuries to Eric Olsen, 41, and his daughter, Johanna, 14.A probable cause statement filed with the charges said Welch had a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent - Missouri's legal minimum for a driving while intoxicated charge - when his eastbound vehicle crossed the center line of Route C and hit the Olsen vehicle.Investigating officers said Eric Olsen swerved to avoid a collision, but that Welch's vehicle hit Olsen's vehicle on the passenger side.The 11-page wrongful death and personal injury lawsuit was filed Friday by a St.
Activists in Sydney march against indigenous intervention
Aboriginal rights activists have marched through inner Sydney to protest against the federal government's intervention in the Northern Territory. The federal government introduced restrictions to welfare payments and buying alcohol as part of its national emergency response to child abuse in Northern Territory indigenous communities. A peaceful group of about 200 indigenous and non-indigenous supporters stopped traffic today on Cleveland Street, Chippendale, about midday as they marched from “The Block" in Redfern to Victoria Park, Camperdown. A string of speakers told the protesters assembled later to eject the coalition from office at next week's federal election. They said the intervention, which began six months ago, had brought no new child sexual charges and had failed to address health and housing issues.
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