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Student Arrested for Making Videogame Map of School
tanman writes "A student at the Houston-area Clements High School was arrested, sent to an "Alternative Education Center" and banned from graduation after school officials found he created a video game map of his school. School district police arrested the teen and searched his home where they confiscated a hammer as a 'potential weapon'. ' "They decided he was a terroristic threat," said one source close to the district's investigation.' With an upcoming May 12 school board election, this issue has quickly become political, with school board members involved in the appeal accusing each other of pandering to the Chinese community in an attempt to gain votes."
"If a person cannot walk into the middle of the town square and express his or her views without fear of arrest, imprisonment, or physical harm, then that person is living in a fear society, not a free society. We cannot rest until every person living in a "fear society" has finally won their freedom."
Condoleezza Rice, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outposts_of_tyranny
As the original link is slashdotted, here is a couple more for the same story
o /4766843.htmld =5263782
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metr
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&i
I'd scream at the ridiculousness of it all, but, then I'd probably be arrested for practising some sort of arcane terrorist warcry.
Since this is slashdotted from here to kalamazoo:
Chinese Community Rallies Behind Student Removed From Clements
by Bob Dunn, Apr 30, 2007, 11 57 am
Members of the area Chinese community have rallied behind a Clements High School senior who was removed from the campus and sent to M.R. Wood Alternative Education Center after parents complained he'd created a computer game map of Clements.
About 70 people attended the Fort Bend Independent School District's April 23 meeting to show support for the Clements senior and his mother, Jean Lin, who spoke to FBISD Board trustees in a closed session.
While an agenda document does not specify details, the board is holding a special meeting tonight to address the boy's actions and the discipline that was meted out as a result, sources close to the matter say. The boy's name was not identified last week, and the district has declined to discuss his case.
Richard Chen, president of the Fort Bend Chinese-American Voters League and a acquaintance of the boy's family, said he is a talented student who enjoys computer games and learned how to create maps (also sometimes known as "mods"), which provide new environments in which games may be played.
The map the boy designed mimicked Clements High School. And, sources said, it was uploaded either to the boy's home computer or to a computer server where he and his friends could access and play on it. Two parents apparently learned from their children about the existence of the game, and complained to FBISD administrators, who investigated.
"They arrested him," Chen said of FBISD police, "and also went to the house to search." The Lin family consented to the search, and a hammer was found in the boy's room, which he used to fix his bed, because it wasn't in good shape, Chen said. He indicated police seized the hammer as a potential weapon.
"They decided he was a terroristic threat," said one source close to the district's investigation.
Sources said that although no charges were filed against the boy, he was removed from Clements, sent to the district's alternate education school and won't be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies with classmates.
"All he did was create a map and put it on a web site to allow students to play," Chen said. "The mother thinks this is too harsh."
FBISD officials declined to comment on the matter Monday. "Our challenge is, people in the community have freedom of speech and can say what they want, but we have laws" covering privacy issues, especially involving minors, that the district has to respect, said spokeswoman Nancy Porter.
Speakers at the FBISD Board's April 23 meeting alluded to the Clements senior's punishment, and drew a connection to the April 16 shootings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, in which a Korean student shot and killed 32 people.
The Asian community "faces new pressures" as a result of the shootings, William Sun told board members. "We urge the school and community not to label our Asian students as terrorists."
"We should teach our children not to judge others harshly" and not to target people as being a threat because of their race, said Peter Woo, adding that the school district should lead the way in such efforts.
But Chen said Monday he and other community members don't consider FBISD's actions in the case to be racially motivated, and don't think they blew the incident out of proportion.
"They all think the principal has to do something - but how much? We do understand with the Virginia Tech incident...something has to be done," Chen said. "Someone just made a mistake, and we think the principal should understand that."
They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
This article provides some more information on this story: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4 766843.html
Years ago someone made a Quake map of Queen's College Oxford (can't find URL), and St. John's College is a Doom map too. I can't remember anyone being arrested for it, but then again I can't remember a school in England being shot up either.
I have a sister-in-law who went to a Texas education "Alternative Education Center." It wasn't because she bucked the system and wouldn't play along with the propaganda. It was because she was a self-indulgent druggie who needed different attention than most people her age. She got to go to school with a smaller class of other potential lost-causes. And it worked. She's now got her head on reasonably straight and has a fairly decent life (although it took her a few years after graduation to get there). Without this education program, I'm not sure where she would have ended up.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not endeared to the Texas highschool education system. I still laugh at the memory of a friends mom earnestly explaining how our Highschool years will be looked back on as our Golden Years. But I do see an underlying value to the idea of education. And sometimes it takes a different approach to get someone there.
Overhauling the entire process and ousting idiotic bureaucrats who make decisions like this one is an entirely different matter.
Royally pissed off? Explain your viewpoint to the school.
The School's site is here.
Principal: Kevin Moran - Kevin.Moran@fortbend.k12.tx.us - 281-634-2156
Assistant Principal: Lorri Hubert, Lorri.Hubert@fortbend.k12.tx.us - 281-634-2164
Lead Counselor: Alice Ledford - Alice.Ledford@fortbend.k12.tx.us - 281-634-2157
Fort Bend ISD's site is here.
Superintendent: Timothy R. Jenney, Ph.D. - superintendent@fortbend.k12.tx.us -
The entire board of directors of the Fort Bend ISD can be reached here. (Google Cache in anticipation of slashdotting).
Mod my comments down. It'll be fun.
the board website
NOTE: DO NOT HARASS THESE PEOPLE. It will have the opposite effect you wish to achieve. Simply let them know of your approval/disapproval of their actions
And here is the info for the public relations department for the school district:
Kudos to those who at least attended the meeting:
The Alternative "Education" Center has a webpage.
c fma bout/about_20070102_0911.pdf
It shows it is a boot camp:
http://www.fortbend.k12.tx.us/campuses/mrw/about.
http://www.fortbend.k12.tx.us/campuses/documents/
The PDF shows the restrictions. Here is a PARTIAL example. Extreme dress code, no jewelry, decorative items, enforced uniform, hair must be cut, no backpacks, etc (even the see-thru ones would be disallowed), denied extracurricular/co-curricular activities, not allowed to drive to school, assigned bus seats, not allowed to have more than $5 on them (forget cab fare if you miss the bus), not allowed to talk at lunch (!). Everything except being outfitted with a GPS + electric shock ankle bracelet. That's a temporary oversight.
Oh, there is a mandatory re-education class so the students know not to buck the system anymore:
Character Education (You are bad. System is good. Follow system to be good)
Understanding the Decision Making Process (Deciding to oppose system is wrong. Proper understanding leads to proper behavior)
Goal Setting (Proper goal is to follow system to achieve success. Goals not in harmony with system are bad.)
Study Skills (ok)
Organizational Skills (ok)
Anger Management (Don't be angry, opposition to the system is anger, follow rules and look happy, dammit!)
Boy's Town Interactive Model (Boys Town Educational Model is what they meant - it is an interactive model for ethics - don't want to attack this since Boys Town seems legit)
Students get increasingly less unfree Responsibility Levels for following the system.
You can get out early in some cases by following some rules: community services, suck-up-to-the-system speech, etc.
Its not Alternative education, it is a prison with education in it. Some prisons have education and/or programs where prisoners only spend certain times at the prison (weekend sentences, etc). This is just another such prison. No I take that back. You have more freedom in prison. You can talk at lunch, decide who to hang with, etc. Way more freedom in prison. Plus orange is a much nicer color than maroon.
Mythical people are particularly required when the enemy has just beaten you in battle and you've had to abandon your (then) capital. The only actual record of a blacksmith near Brandywine was the one forced to guide the British in the suprise attack at Paoli.
Ripping someone's ear off (or trying, since it's sooo hard to get a good grip when they are punching you) is going to make them very very angry at you. Kicking them in the nuts will, too.
I don't think you get into a lot of fistfights in real life. There are ways to "stop" a person, but those ain't it. (think knife/stabbing) All that other crap you talking is silly. Stop giving fight advice.
And your snappy comebacks will just likely lead to escalation...right then or later when he/they catches you alone. Try talking shit to an aggressive macho man...he'll love that. Seriously, stop giving fight advice...nobody's taking it anyway.
Eh - to each their own. Sure... I have some good memories from that time period. But life got a heck of a lot better for me shortly after I graduated from Highschool and I went out in to the world and became my own person. If I were to look back and call a time period the golden days of my youth - that would be the time.
"They arrested him," Chen said of FBISD police, "and also went to the house to search." The Lin family consented to the search, and a hammer was found in the boy's room, which he used to fix his bed, because it wasn't in good shape, Chen said. He indicated police seized the hammer as a potential weapon.
Attention deficit disorder is a complicated issue, spanning several major... HEY LET'S GO RIDE BIKES!
"No warrant, no search. You don't consent to police searching your house. That's what search warrants . . .are for."
Sorry, I think you're wrong on that point, unless you mean "You don't consent..." as a piece of excellent advice. I can't believe they were dumb enough to allow this. Any evidence found in a search to which the owner has consented is legal and admissable. So are statements you make if you've waived your right to remain silent and agreed to talk to the police without a lawyer present.
That's why you NEVER give the cops permission to search your house. If you're pulled over, NEVER allow them to search your car. Don't answer any of their questions, and don't believe a thing that they tell you. Spend a few monotonous hours learning the laws (Federal and in your state) so that you know how to protect yourself in these situations. That will put you on higher ground than 95% of the stormtrooper wannabes you're likely to encounter.
"If you're ignorant of your rights, then you don't have any"
-unknown
Although there are no longer states that proudly identify as fascist since WWII, the ideals are still alive and well. Original (Italian) Fascism's root is the ideal of Unity. This is achieved by states through nationalism, which easily morphs into authoritarianism. Also incorporated is corporatism where corporations control the government. In fascist Italy, this control was open -- many people now see a veiled control in the US via campaign financing and lobbying. (Wikipedia has more here and better)
My point being that when people talk about "Fascism" today (esp. in labeling the US) they mean exactly what people meant 60 years ago. Only now, some of those same people rely on their audience to (fallaciously) conflate fascism with the Axis powers in order to obliquely call the US Nazis.