1. economicsandlawexplained.wordpress.com How Can You Be Sure?

2. isobe.typepad.com What did you say?

3. But it was in the news…on the internet…my mom told me…Mrs. Carpenter said it was true… hopeknowslife.blogspot.com

4. Stars and Stripes News May 22, 2004 Patient given appointment...in 192 years A hospital patient has been told he'll have to wait 192 years for a minor operation. Robert Smith has been sent a letter by Dewsbury District Hospital saying the waiting time is 9,999 weeks. The Mirror says bosses at the Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust have apologized for the gaffe, blaming an admin error. A Trust spokesman said: "We are happy to confirm no one has ever had to wait 9,999 weeks." Mr. Smith, 48, has now been told the waiting time for the operation to have a spot removed from beside his eye is actually 17 weeks.

5. Switch: EBay allows auction of Virgin Mary grilled cheese MIAMI (AP) — The Internet auction house eBay Inc. reversed itself Tuesday and is allowing bids for half of a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich that its owner says bears the image of the Virgin Mary. Diana Duyser, of Hollywood, put the sandwich up for sale last week, drawing bids as high as $22,000 before eBay pulled the item Sunday night. The page was viewed almost 100,000 times before being taken down. An e-mail Duyser received from eBay said the sandwich broke its policy, which "does not allow listings that are intended as jokes." But Duyser, a work-from-home jewelry designer who has bought and sold items on eBay for two years, said the grilled cheese wasn't a joke. The auction was back on Tuesday afternoon with a top bid of $5,100. The winning bidder also has to pay $9.95 for shipping. Duyser thought eBay would be the best place to show off the sandwich, made on plain white bread and American cheese and cooked with no oil or butter. She said she took a bite after making it 10 years ago and saw a face staring back at her from the bread. Duyser, 52, put the sandwich in a clear plastic box with cotton balls and kept it on her night stand. At first, she was scared by the image, "but now that I realize how unique it is, I wanted to share it with the world," Duyser told The Miami Herald. She said the sandwich has never sprouted a spore of mold. USA Today Newspaper – November 18, 2004 Is this the whole story? Accurate?

6. Your Challenge 1.Pick a current news story. Use a credible online newspaper or news site. (CBS, MSN, ABC, a major city newspaper) 2. Find the same story written and published by three different news sources. (so three of the above) 3. Complete the chart comparing the stories. Write a reflection on the activity where you draw a conclusion from what you found, make an inference, and offer your opinion.

7. Girl, 10, handcuffed for bringing scissors to school December 12, 2004 PHILADELPHIA -- A 10-year-old girl was placed in handcuffs and taken to a police station because she took a pair of scissors to her elementary school. School district officials said the fourth-grade student did not threaten anyone with the 8-inch shears, but violated a rule that considers scissors to be potential weapons. Administrators said they were following state law when they called police Thursday, and police said they were following department rules when they handcuffed Porsche Brown and took her away in a patrol wagon. ''My daughter cried and cried,'' said her mother, Rose Jackson. ''She had no idea what she did was wrong. I think that was way too harsh.'' Police officers decided the girl hadn't committed a crime and let her go. However, school officials suspended her for five days. Administrators will decide at a hearing whether she may return to class, or be expelled to a special disciplinary school. The scissors were discovered while students' belongings were being searched for property missing from a teacher's desk. School district officials have promised a crackdown on unruly students this year, and new policies give administrators the power to expel students for infractions as minor as violating the dress code, chronic tardiness or habitual swearing. Administrators say the steps are needed to regain control over a notoriously unruly school system, but some parents have complained that discipline has been overly harsh and that school officials have been too quick to call police about minor problems. AP http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-scissors12.html Chicago Sun Times newspaper

8. Officials apologize for scissors arrest Philadelphia, PA, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Philadelphia officials have apologized for the arrest of a 10-year-old girl who was taken to jail for having a pair of scissors in her book bag at school. The head of Philadelphia's public schools and the city police commissioner called the child's mother Monday to apologize, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Tuesday. Porsche Brown, a fourth-grader, was handcuffed and taken to a local police precinct. Schools leader Paul Vallas termed the incident an "overreaction." The girl was suspended Thursday from Philadelphia's Thomas Holme Elementary School when a pair of 8-inch scissors were found in her book bag. Students are banned from taking scissors, which are considered potential weapons under state law, to school, the Inquirer reported. The school principal said she was following district procedures in calling police about the incident. The scissors were found when school staff searched students' belongings for an item missing from a teacher's desk. Porsche told school officials she had used the scissors to open a compact disc package. The girl's mother, Rose Jackson, told the Inquirer she "felt good" about the apologies but, "My main concern right now it to get my daughter back in school and back to a normal childhood.“ United Press International http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041214-082954-5592r.htm

9. Vallas, cops apologize for girl's arrest By MENSAH M. DEAN The top officials from Philadelphia's Police Department and school district yesterday apologized to the mother of a 10-year-old girl who was handcuffed and arrested last week for taking a pair of 8-inch scissors to school. But some said the apologies are unusual in a city where each year, hundreds of students who are caught with weapons get arrested and expelled to disciplinary schools, in accordance with state law. Scissors are considered a weapon in schools across the state. "As a parent, and grandparent, I do understand that the use of physical restraints on young people, especially pre-teens, can be distressing," Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said in a statement. Calling in "local police to address such a matter involving a 10-year-old criminalized the young student who apparently meant no ill intent by her actions," read a school district statement, which also noted that schools CEO Paul Vallas had apologized to the girl's mother. "I'm glad that they apologized, and that just supports my theory that this was not handled appropriately," Rose Jackson, mother of the child, said last night. Jackson had complained to the news media over the weekend that her daughter, Porsche Brown, had been the victim of excessive force. Jackson has hired Philadelphia attorney Pat McKinney to possibly sue the district, but she hasn't made a final decision yet. A state law bans all cutting instruments from schools, as does the city school district's own code of student conduct. State law also requires that local police be called when students are found with weapons and that students be expelled for at least one year. "This is a child. You use common sense. The hell with the law," said Jackson. "She didn't threaten anyone. She didn't show the scissors to anyone at all."

10. Jackson said Porsche was using the scissors to work on a school project at home. She believes her daughter inadvertently scooped up the scissors with other materials and put them in her bag. Jackson said her daughter was suspended twice last year for disciplinary problems but has had no trouble this year. Jackson said she passed up an opportunity to tell her story on ABC's "Good Morning America" this morning to instead go to Porsche's school to get her reinstated from suspension. "You try to better these children and have them turn around from the anger that they had, and then you have them arrested?" said Jackson, who was upset that she wasn't notified until eight hours after the arrest. "To turn around and do this is a slap in the face.“ Others said the school district would be wise to follow the law - or work to change it. "Look at the flip side. What if a child did hurt another child with a pair of scissors. Then people would be outraged that a pair of scissors was allowed to get into the school," said Harvey Rice, a state-appointed official known as the safe schools advocate. He is now probing cases in which principals did not follow state law in reporting weapon cases to see if the practice is widespread. "I don't think the law is crazy. There are going to be some instances, but we have to err on the side of caution and safety," Rice said. "A cutting instrument is a cutting instrument. In a fit of anger, in a lot of situations, you use it, you lunge at a person," said Michael Lodise, president of the school police officers' union.

11. "If you don't like the law change the law, but don't break the law," he said. But in its statement, the school district appeared to be taking exception with the state law: "[I]t is the School District of Philadelphia's position that school administrators can exercise reasonable judgment and rely on school police to adequately address most situations on the primary school level." The statement also said calling local police off "their beats to manage the vast majority of primary-level incidents is a waste of vital law enforcement resources." State Rep. John Taylor, however, said "discretion has proven to be flawed in the past... I'd rather see them have a strict adherence to the law. It's not left up to anyone's discretion," said the Philadelphia Republican. Police Commissioner Johnson said the officers who responded to Holme Elementary, in the Northeast, acted in accordance with department policy in handcuffing and transporting the girl. But Johnson noted that the department is evaluating "the feasibility of having a police supervisor consulted in instances where arrest and transport of elementary school students are involved to determine whether or not it is in the best interest of all concerned to handcuff juvenile suspects being transported." From Sept. 1 through Nov. 30, there were 461 student arrests, according to the school district. Some 111 arrests were made in incidents involving cutting instruments. Philidelphia Daily News http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/10411547.htm?1c

12. News Article Comparison Worksheet Name ____________________________________________________ Section __________ News Story Title/Topic/Event: ___________________________________________________________________ 1.Presents the story in the exact same way 2.Story very similar 3.Left out important details 4.Changed the story entirely 5.Added extra details 6.Added extra unrelated details 7.Well-written and tells the true story in your opinion Article 1 Article 2 Article 3 Article 1 Source: (name of newspaper, city published)____________________________________________________ Specifics from above: Article 2 Source: (name of newspaper, city published)____________________________________________________ Specifics from above: Article 3 Source: (name of newspaper, city published)____________________________________________________ Specifics from above: