tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9882039605299744122024-03-12T17:23:36.485-07:00A Line in the SandAdinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-85285484260909546192014-10-29T06:53:00.001-07:002014-10-29T06:53:20.969-07:0087 school shootings since Newtown<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The horrific shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School on October 24, last Friday, raises the <a href="http://everytown.org/article/schoolshootings/">number of school shootings since Newtown</a> to 87. That's 87 school shootings in less than 2 years. Not particularly encouraging.<br />
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According to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/27/us/washington-school-shooting/index.html">CNN.com</a>, the shooter, Jaylen Fryberg, a popular freshman, was recently named the school's homecoming prince.<br />
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Earlier that day, Fryberg texted a selfie with a gun to his ex-girlfriend, and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/us/washington-school-shooting-claims-another-victim-gia-soriano.html?mabReward=RI%3A18">he sent texts</a> to several of his friends and to his cousin inviting them to sit at the same table with him for lunch in the cafeteria.<br />
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He used a family member's gun to shoot Zoe Galasso, 14, Gia Soriano, 14, <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Shaylee Chuckulnaskit, 14, Andrew Fryberg, 15, and Nate Hatch, 14, and finally himself.</span></span><br />
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Zoe Galasso died and Jaylen Fryberg at the scene. Gia Soriano died in the hospital, Sunday night. Shaylee Chuckulnaskit and Andrew Fryberg are in critical condition. Nate Hatch is in satisfactory condition.<br />
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The fact that Fryberg was popular and not an outsider or a victim of bullying doesn't fit the standard profile of a school shooter. Neither does his targeting his friends and family.<br />
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What is more disturbing to me is that once again, the shooter's gun was taken from a family member in his home. Washington State does not have child access prevention laws, which would hold the adult gun owner criminally liable, who did not properly store and lock up his gun. Approximately half the states have child access prevention laws. New York does not. Read here about the efforts being made to pass <a href="http://nyagv.org/ny-child-access-prevention/">Nicholas's Bill: The Child Access Prevention or Safe Storage Act</a>.<br />
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It is my great hope that one day in the not too distant future, all 50 states will have child access prevention laws.<br />
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Here is a good article by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/25/opinion/gail-collins-once-again-guns.html">Gail Thomas (NY Times)</a> about gun laws and the upcoming mid-term elections.<br />
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<br />Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-32431147612016547162014-05-18T19:14:00.000-07:002014-05-18T19:14:22.190-07:00A LINE IN THE SAND goes home to San DiegoOn March 14, I had the pleasure of going to San Diego to speak at Career Day at my old high school, La Jolla Country Day. I spoke to 500 Upper School students from the same stage in the amphitheater, where I received my diploma many years ago. I told them that even as early as 9th grade, I knew that I wanted to be an actor and to do theater, and I recommended they follow their passions. Then, I spoke to several small groups of seniors about "the business" and the particular path I have taken in it. I trust that I gave them some inspiration to carry with them into the future.<br />
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On March 17th, bright and early, I gave two back to back performances of A LINE IN THE SAND, for the students and faculty in The Four Flowers Theater, a lovely, state of the art theater, that was once the gym where my classmates played basketball and volleyball, and where my theater friends and I performed our annual musical: GUYS AND DOLLS, WHERE'S CHARLEY?, WEST SIDE STORY, AND FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Great memories.<br />
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It was wonderful to come back and perform there for the students, faculty, former classmates and teachers, including Will Erickson, who was my Drama teacher, and Alice Schilling, who was my French teacher. John Tessmer, who was a year ahead of my at La Jolla Country Day and who was in several plays with me, also came to see the show. I had family members and close family friends there too, which added even more warmth to the experience.<br />
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After the performances, I sat in on two different freshman English classes taught by Mr. Pritzker. I asked the students if they thought a shooting could happen there. At first they said no, but then they conceded that if someone really wanted to shoot up the school, they would find a way to get on campus. Then, I asked them if there was bullying at the school. They told me that they didn't have much physical bullying, but a few of them told me that they've said things to people that may have unintentionally hurt their feelings. One student said that even if you call each other names in a joking way on a regular basis, there could come a day, when one of you is really struggling on the inside, and it's no longer funny. Just like that it can become hurtful. We talked about how powerful words are.<br />
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Then, I was treated to a pizza lunch in the faculty lounge with a group of teachers. One science teacher, asked me why I was performing a play this disturbing, first thing on a Monday morning. He felt it was too upsetting for his senior students, who came to his class immediately following the performance. I told him that they are graduating and becoming adults and citizens of the world. It's important for them to hear the truth about what is happening in America. The Upper School director, Greg Martin, an English teacher, and a History teacher defended the play, reminding the science teacher that theater has the power to reach students in a unique, emotional way, to instruct, and even transform. It was an spirited debate!<br />
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After lunch, I taught the Play Production class, which was regularly taught by Scott Feldsher, who coincidentally produced one of my brother's plays in the 1980s with his theater company, Sledgehammer. I did an interview exercise with them. I had the students divide up into pairs and interview each other for 5 minutes. Borrowing from the great, Anna Deveare Smith, I gave each pair one of 3 questions: What are the circumstances of your birth? Have you ever been accused of something you didn't do? Have you ever come close to death? These kind of questions tend to allow people to tell a good story and talk for a while. The students then got up in front of the class, one at a time, and performed a portion of what their partner had told them during the 5 minute interview, using their words (as much as they could remember) and their physical gestures. They had a lot of fun and learned something new about each other's lives.<br />
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It was a great day! A true full circle moment.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">(left to right) John Tessmer, Alice Schilling, Adina Taubman, Will Erickson, Greg Martin</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mr. Pritzker's freshman English class</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Students interview each other in Scott Feldsher's Play Production class</span></td></tr>
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Griffin performs for his classmates</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Adina and the Play Production class</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Scott Feldsher and Adina </span></td></tr>
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<br />Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-32966442763378053322013-04-20T10:02:00.001-07:002013-04-20T10:03:31.318-07:00Columbine: 14 years later (Part 1) Has anything changed?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, marks the 14th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre. Has anything changed? Are our children safer? There have been over 100 school shootings since Columbine (some involve multiple fatalities, some involve single fatalities or injuries). In the wake of the Aurora and Newtown massacres, Colorado and Connecticut have stepped up and passed new gun control legislation that serves as a model for the federal government, who most cowardly and shamefully, this past Wednesday, failed to pass a bi-partisan bill for expanded background checks. Apparently, there is no death toll, no massacre count, that will ever reach the hearts of these senators. They are only concerned with re-election, and their campaigns are funded by NRA money. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gaby Giffords said it best in a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/opinion/a-senate-in-the-gun-lobbys-grip.html">great op-ed piece</a> this week: "I<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">f we cannot make our communities safer with the Congress we have now, we will use every means available to make sure we have a different Congress, one that puts communities’ interests ahead of the gun lobby’s. To do nothing while others are in danger is not the American way."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">This seems like our best and only option to pass sensible gun laws.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Here is another excellent article by Joe Nocera in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/opinion/nocera-the-spineless-gun-vote.html?smid=pl-share">NY Times today</a>. It's about Katie Lyles, a student at Columbine on the day of the massacre, who ran to safety to a nearby house in the neighborhood. Today, she is an art teacher at an elementary in Littleton, Colorado, not far from Columbine. This past Wednesday, she was in Washington, D.C. lobbying for the background checks bill with the National Education Association. She is very disappointed, but she says, "You can't give up just because you lose one battle."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span>Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-22195375494256310582013-01-21T16:29:00.000-08:002013-01-21T16:31:10.656-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today, I attended a rally at City Hall organized by <a href="http://www.onemillionmomsforguncontrol.org/">One Million Moms for Gun Control</a>. I am the Coalition Coordinator for the Manhattan chapter. 1MM4GC is picking up the baton from Million Moms March that started in 2000. 1MM4GC was founded on Facebook by Shannon Watts, a mother of five from Indiana, the day after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. The goal of the rally was both to celebrate Governor Cuomo's success last week in passing the NY Safe Act, which is the strongest gun control legislation in the nation, and to encourage President Obama to move forward with his gun control plan.<br />
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We met at Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn Heights this morning. It was great to see so many women that I've come to know through various gun control organizations and events over the past 14 years. Donna Dees Thomases, who founded and organized the Million Moms March in D.C. in 2000 and Edie Smith, Nancy Regalado, and Barbara Holt from New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. I met some new moms from the 1MM4GC Manhattan Chapter: Erika, Rochelle, and Zoe. There were some moms from my daughters' school as well. It was wonderful to see so many children holding up signs with messages demanding change to make their lives safer.<br />
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Then, we all lined up and headed for the Brooklyn Bridge. I took lots of photos. It was quite a sight to see hundreds of people marching over the bridge. It was my first time walking across. This was the perfect way to do it. The view was incredible. Lady Liberty had her arm raised in solidarity with our chants of "Gun Control Now!" When we got to the Manhattan side of the bridge, people were holding up their signs, and the cars heading to Brooklyn began to honk in support.<br />
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Next, we walked to the south end of City Hall Park for the rally. There were some very powerful speakers including, Shannon Watts, Councilwoman Letitia James, Jackie Rowe-Adams (Harlem Mothers SAVE), and Rabbi Joshua Davidson of Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester. Police Commissioner Kelly was there too. For the finale Elizabeth Mitchell, Susan Lori-Parks, and others sang "This Little Light of Mine."<br />
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The overall message was that the epidemic of gun violence in America is our collective responsibility, and that we need to work together to take action NOW to stop it.<br />
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It was an inspiring day. I am fired up for the <a href="http://www.guncontrolmarch.com/">march on Washington, D.C</a>. this Saturday!<br />
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<br />Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-35453313115777305232012-12-31T11:21:00.002-08:002012-12-31T11:40:32.695-08:00Heartbreaking and A Call to Action<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">On December 14th, America woke up from our sleep. 20 first graders and <span style="color: #333333; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6</span></span> adults were massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">On April 20th, 1999, we woke up briefly after Columbine, but then we went back to sleep. I had hoped that Columbine was a line in the sand that would stop us in our tracks, but we kept going. We've had more than 100 shootings since. Note: The statistics vary. For fatal mass school shootings with mulitple fatalities, it's between 60 and 70<span style="font-size: small;">,</span> since Columbine. For school shootings with either one fatality or just injuries, or suicides--it's over 100. One study said around 300). <b>Either way, it's more than any other country in the world, and it's shameful.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut, just 100 miles from where I live in New York City. Right before Christmas. I feel so sad and angry. Will Obama finally do something, now that a more serious national dialogue has begun<span style="font-size: small;">?</span> We could forget quickly when teenagers were slaughtered, but now there is heartbreak and outrage because these victims were 6 and 7 years old<span style="font-size: small;">. </span>Babies. Obama waited <span style="color: #333333; font-size: small;">four</span> years to take any action. Now that he's been re-elected, and he has nothing to lose, h<span style="font-size: small;">e says </span>ready to do something. Maybe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Yesterday, he went on "Meet The Press" and said that he can't do it alone. The American people must demand<span style="font-size: small;"> stricter gun laws</span> from their members of Congress or nothing will change. Obama makes an important point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">What are we willing to do?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">What am I willing to do?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I became involved with gun violence prevention, particularly school massacre prevention, after Columbine. Columbine was my wake up call. It was not the first school shooting in America, but at the time it was the largest death count. So it got a lot of media attention. People stopped for a minute, paused from their daily concerns and challenges, and thought about those 12 students and a teacher who were shot and killed by their classmates, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. President Clinton went to Littleton, Colorado to meet with the victims' families and the survivors. There was talk of stricter gun control laws. Tom Mauser, whose son, Daniel, was murdered at Columbine, took action in Colorado. <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">He worked to close the gun show loophole that allowed the Klebold and Harris to buy their guns without going through a background check. Tom was successful in lobbying to pass Amendment 22 in the Colorado State Legislature in 2000, also known as The Colorado Background Checks at Gun Shows Act.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> Here are 2 excellent <a href="http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2012/07/aurora_theater_shooting_tom_mauser_columbine_gun_control.php?page=2">articles</a> about <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/colorado-shooting_n_1690711.html">Tom Mauser</a>.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Tom was one of 60 people I interviewed in Littleton, Colorado in the year following the massacre at Columbine. We have stayed in touch since then. He came to see a performance of A LINE IN THE SAND in Boulder, Colorado in 2009. I consider him a friend and an inspiration to everyone who has lost a loved one to gun violence.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">I wrote the play as a response to Columbine, which I hoped would help high school students, parents, educators, and anyone else wanting to prevent future massacres to create a dialogue around the many issues raised by Columbine: easy access to guns, bullying, cliques, parenting, violence in the media, etc. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Performing the play in high schools has been incredibly rewarding for me. I have witnessed thoughtful and provocative discussions from students and educators. The longer I do this work, the more I can sense a greater awareness of these issues in the schools<span style="font-size: small;"> a</span>nd a greater effort by some school administrators to do something positive for change. That is progress. And progress matters. Prevention would be better, but progress is a start.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Aside from my work in the schools, I have been involved in the New York City gun control activist community since Columbine. I have met so many amazing, profoundly strong people, many of them mothers who lost children to gun violence. The<span style="font-size: small;">y</span> have turned unbearable pain into action. I participated in the Million Mom's March<span style="font-size: small;"> in 2000</span>, organized by the wonderful, Donna Dees Thomases. I have attended rallies, lie-ins, press conferences, fund raisers, etc. I never cease to be inspired by the<span style="font-size: small;">s<span style="font-size: small;">e incredible people to do </span></span>whatever I can to keep on fighting for change. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">The fight must continue. It is more important than ever. I hope, as many people in the media have suggested, that this is a tipping point for America. Can we really stand by and do nothing while children are senselessly slaughtered?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Even if we stopped selling guns tomorrow<span style="font-size: small;">,</span> Americans would still own more than 300 million of them. The NRA believes having more guns is th<span style="font-size: small;">e</span> solution. <span style="font-size: small;">At his press conferen<span style="font-size: small;">c</span>e last week, Wa<span style="font-size: small;">y<span style="font-size: small;">ne La P<span style="font-size: small;">ierre <span style="font-size: small;">sai<span style="font-size: small;">d </span>the best w<span style="font-size: small;">a<span style="font-size: small;">y to prevent further school massacres is to put</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> armed guards in every school in this country.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is w<span style="font-size: small;">hat we are up against.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">I have signed petitions demanding<span style="font-size: small;"> stricter gun law<span style="font-size: small;">s</span></span>. I have written to my Congressmen and women. Obama needs our help. If we support him, we can reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban, we can eliminate high capacity ammunition clips, and <span style="font-size: small;">we can </span>insist on background checks for all gun sales. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">We are better than this. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">R.I.P.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Charlotte Bacon</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Daniel Barden</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 7</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Rachel Davino</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 29</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Olivia Engel</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Josephine Gay</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 7</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Ana M. Marquez-Greene</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Dylan Hockley</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Dawn Hochsprung</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 47</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Madeleine F. Hsu</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Catherine V. Hubbard</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Chase Kowalski</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 7</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Jesse Lewis</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">James Mattioli<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Grace McDonnell</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 7</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Anne Marie Murphy</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 52</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Emilie Parker</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Jack Pinto</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Noah Pozner</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Caroline Previdi</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Jessica Rekos</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Avielle Richman</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Lauren Rousseau</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 30</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Mary Sherlach</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 56</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Victoria Soto</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 27</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Benjamin Wheeler</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Allison N. Wyatt</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, 6</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirSA_qikfmrO5n-IjZswtpe2DZICeR3rEkWAXZzJ0k91aptkXF4T8_kw0Zek0QxNehQrw584zzVGfSB-omEd5FDET-Gg8Ps8SgFYA8BhnzQcaftHGVtBiFMNNoducun2V_hDgJJAXIEU/s1600/photo.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirSA_qikfmrO5n-IjZswtpe2DZICeR3rEkWAXZzJ0k91aptkXF4T8_kw0Zek0QxNehQrw584zzVGfSB-omEd5FDET-Gg8Ps8SgFYA8BhnzQcaftHGVtBiFMNNoducun2V_hDgJJAXIEU/s1600/photo.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;">Noah Pozner </span></span></span></span>
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Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-1705453539487090812012-07-30T12:50:00.000-07:002012-08-06T16:28:17.257-07:00The slog / press conference in NYCGail Collins recently wrote a wonderful Op-ed piece called <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/opinion/guns-and-the-slog.html">"Guns and the Slog"</a> about the slow steady long term work that gun control activists are committed to for change.
I attended a press conference at City Hall today. In the wake of the Aurora movie theater massacre, Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy(L.I.) are introducing a new bill this week that will attempt to ban online and mail order sales of ammunition by requiring that buyers present photo identification.<br />
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The Aurora shooter bought 6,000 bullets on the internet to use in his planned killing spree.
The bill would also require ammunition dealers to alert authorities when someone buys more than 1,000 rounds. "It's time to close the loophole that is allowing killers, the deranged, the insane, and even terrorists to buy ammunition online," Lautenberg said.
Ms. McCarthy said, "This is just common sense," and that it won't "infringe on anyone's right to the Second Amendment."<br />
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Other speakers included Dan Gross, President of The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Jackie Hilly, President of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, Carole Stiller, President of Million Mom's March NJ, and Nico Bocour, project director for Ceasefire NJ.<br />
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I stood behind the podium with the speakers and a group of members from Million Mom March. I wore a t-shirt from the 2000 march on Washington. Donna Dees Thomases was there too. She organized the march. It was great to see a lot of familiar faces from the New York and New Jersey gun control movement. I met Dan Gross for the first time and his assistant, Heather.
These people and their long term commitment to changing this country for the better inspire me! Keep on slogging.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivi2RdX-vjOGELLVNlX-C6c2t4fgECx9Qvp8XAJBr6AxTO0Y1WxZhv7JD2rMKaqT4U8-p9NE1lMe_6h63XGAsgKmMQXnJ83A8UQKJc7KZxEYCmzmCG_oiVNS-mAtvMxbm8E6hxDhv0VX4/s1600/CIMG1221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivi2RdX-vjOGELLVNlX-C6c2t4fgECx9Qvp8XAJBr6AxTO0Y1WxZhv7JD2rMKaqT4U8-p9NE1lMe_6h63XGAsgKmMQXnJ83A8UQKJc7KZxEYCmzmCG_oiVNS-mAtvMxbm8E6hxDhv0VX4/s320/CIMG1221.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-1763753495930256372012-02-28T08:25:00.010-08:002012-03-07T12:17:21.090-08:00Here We Go Again<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCvgMZXoJeSEw6vdPFbiEis60rPPbgGgmEKN8XvLgVAPS2DDaf1nJ_tp2NCF5eY5zC0yg50SMsN5zrCUPfud8v15dQ9Gzfy6LfsSU0oLlQ93PQ9nLzQmF6yRSRw0lTosrOCJQF9bjn6ig/s1600/11pm_Chardon_vigil393582eb-ba57-45b1-953d-6c948239aa560003_20120227232343_640_480.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCvgMZXoJeSEw6vdPFbiEis60rPPbgGgmEKN8XvLgVAPS2DDaf1nJ_tp2NCF5eY5zC0yg50SMsN5zrCUPfud8v15dQ9Gzfy6LfsSU0oLlQ93PQ9nLzQmF6yRSRw0lTosrOCJQF9bjn6ig/s320/11pm_Chardon_vigil393582eb-ba57-45b1-953d-6c948239aa560003_20120227232343_640_480.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714233249151626178" /></a><br />Front page of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/us/fatal-school-shooting-in-chardon-ohio-suspect-is-arrested.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper">The New York Times</a> today, a photo of a teenage girl embracing her younger brother, after a student opened fire at Chardon High School outside of Cleveland, Ohio. It's been nearly 13 years since Columbine and the senseless violence continues. Our schools continue to be unsafe. T.J. Lane, a sophomore at a nearby alternative high school for "troubled" students has been identified as the shooter. His lawyer said, "By all accounts, T.J. is a fairly quiet and good kid." According, to a student in the cafeteria of Chardon High, where the shootings took place, T. J. was targeting a specific group of students.<br /><br />Mike Trivisonno, a local radio host, was on the air for seven hours yesterday taking calls from people in the community, discussing what factors might have contributed to the shootings. The usual topics came up: bullying, social media, gun laws, and parenting. Mr. Trivisonno said, " It could happen anywhere and does."<br /><br />He's right, it's happened over 100 times since Columbine. Discussions like the one Mr. Trivisonno had on the radio are helpful, but until we take some action, and until we are will to change our behavior, mothers will keep losing their children, and the turmoil of adolescence will continue to be resolved with violence. <br /><br />Please let me know your thoughts.<br /><br />Peace,<br /><br />AdinaAdinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-31030041524489911992011-04-20T14:15:00.000-07:002011-04-20T15:00:42.214-07:0012 Years later, Does Columbine still resonate for us?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqBoa9jH0f3EAIyObdr31iWn6FQWcEzqfIq3QIohHKaMzf4NFFiCf824ED1OQKBwEwRd951r3oOmn2pyGOfkdM-C-I3pZYz0yiG_NHvLWVp0inM-mvbSFMrb4W41OTawg4UCAVr6B38I/s1600/columbine-white-pink.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqBoa9jH0f3EAIyObdr31iWn6FQWcEzqfIq3QIohHKaMzf4NFFiCf824ED1OQKBwEwRd951r3oOmn2pyGOfkdM-C-I3pZYz0yiG_NHvLWVp0inM-mvbSFMrb4W41OTawg4UCAVr6B38I/s320/columbine-white-pink.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597786256786143570" /></a><br />12 Years ago today, at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado,Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves. They wounded 24 others. <br /><br />The Brady Campaign posted on Facebook <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/04/columbine-school-closes-on-12th-anniversary-of-killings/1">an article</a> about how Colorado newspapers did not run an article on their front pages about the anniversary. <br /><br />Has Columbine lost its relevance?<br /><br />I don't think so. There have been over 80 school shootings in high schools and universities in the U.S. since April 20, 1999. And just two weeks ago, 11 students were shot and killed in an elementary school in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. 18 students were injured. America continues to export its violence to the rest of the world.<br /><br />As long as there continues to be gun violence in schools, Columbine is relevant and its lessons must be remembered. <br /><br />We need stronger gun laws.<br />We much close the gun show loophole in every state.<br />Parents need to take the time to talk to their children and to know what's going on in their lives.<br />We need to limit violent media.<br />We need to stop the senseless teasing and bullying that goes on in schools and on the internet.<br />Students must reach out to outsiders, include rather than exclude, and build kinder school communities.<br /><br />My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the 13 victims. May you continue to heal and find joy. <br /><br />To the 13 victims, wherever you are, I hope you have found the peace you deserve. <br /><br />I, along with so many others, continue to work toward making a kinder, less violent world.<br /><br /><br />Cassie Bernall<br />Steven Curnow<br />Corey Depooter<br />Kelly Fleming<br />Matt Kechter<br />Daniel Mauser<br />Daniel Rohrbough<br />Rachel Scott<br />Isaiah Shoels<br />John Tomlin<br />Lauren Townsend<br />Kyle Velasquez<br />Dave SandersAdinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-30379571133064919462011-04-13T13:54:00.000-07:002011-05-23T18:47:45.172-07:00Honoring our Journeys<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAiY3DRCaakb0-naKDDC006MUJyAd84Vbz35skMNCjSh70zjF0ZqTzz5vRI4c0viV52wSha7RvNqDH4Oio8l69klI_F1-9V-5qMl-VrzAFx9rHWBSCWhgXo_1_k9rEbsuCgr53HB7uSEE/s1600/IMG_2083.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAiY3DRCaakb0-naKDDC006MUJyAd84Vbz35skMNCjSh70zjF0ZqTzz5vRI4c0viV52wSha7RvNqDH4Oio8l69klI_F1-9V-5qMl-VrzAFx9rHWBSCWhgXo_1_k9rEbsuCgr53HB7uSEE/s320/IMG_2083.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596749614098450130" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_1_9E6p-wwU2jISFgmMn67KwrdSnRCgksAazvxuEID0Y2bobOP6FhHdtRzCQiVvAd721wo8VX1szi5d9bheTyS64Ym0zYPDGWrIPZ6NGAe2GWDuGnU84gIkcX587OIwKO32nn7n25qvA/s1600/IMG_2089.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_1_9E6p-wwU2jISFgmMn67KwrdSnRCgksAazvxuEID0Y2bobOP6FhHdtRzCQiVvAd721wo8VX1szi5d9bheTyS64Ym0zYPDGWrIPZ6NGAe2GWDuGnU84gIkcX587OIwKO32nn7n25qvA/s320/IMG_2089.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596749611646704242" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvwwS489PCMP-boDmSCLHyu8Y1zPtSRmQ93EIuV7SbVVgwUqjU-z3B8QYL0pgT6ug5zYQPEXnQu6qU6GyBeTDYfuAGaKbp208C1d-7OkJ9Ge8IWVZDq3PAF1gEJa10CaDjs2eLu86pOA/s1600/IMG_2086.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvwwS489PCMP-boDmSCLHyu8Y1zPtSRmQ93EIuV7SbVVgwUqjU-z3B8QYL0pgT6ug5zYQPEXnQu6qU6GyBeTDYfuAGaKbp208C1d-7OkJ9Ge8IWVZDq3PAF1gEJa10CaDjs2eLu86pOA/s320/IMG_2086.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596748424352050002" /></a><br />This past Sunday, I had the great privilege of being asked to speak at the 26th Annual New York Crime Victims' Candle Light Vigil. The theme of the day was Honoring our Journeys. It was sponsored by The Downstate Coalition for Crime Victims and The Office of the New York State Attorney General. I have been attending meetings of The Downstate Coalition for Crime Victims for the past few months. They asked me to do a reading of "The Solace Stone", a parable about an old Chinese grandfather, who each morning climbs to the top of a nearby hill and picks up a small stone, then he walks down the hill and drop the pebble on the other side of a stream near his home. One stone at a time he will move the hill that blocks out the sunlight. <br /><br />Then, I was asked to tie in the theme of the story with my experiences interviewing members of the Columbine community in 1999-2000. I talked about what I saw on TV that day, how I was moved to go out to Colorado and interview people about the shootings, all the questions I had. I talked about how it was a hate crime. That the killers, Harris and Klebold, were bullied, and they then terrorized their classmates before killing them, called them names, etc. I talked about the fact that they were able to get their guns so easily from an 18 year old friend, who went to a gun show for them and from and another dealer, who was an acquaintance of their co-worker at a local pizza place. I talked about prevention. There have been over 80 school shootings in high schools and colleges since Columbine. Finally, I talked about prevention, about my work in the high schools talking with kids about bullying, cliques, violence in the media, the easy access to guns, how they can build a kinder community, reach out to outsiders, etc. <br /><br />I read out the names of the 13 Columbine victims because after almost 12 years, they have been forgotten by the general public for the most part. We move onto other tragedies.<br /><br />I closed with the following words:<br /><br />How do we find the strength to keep moving another pebble each day? We find strength and inspiration in each other. We work together. We have faith and we persevere. We come together on days like today to remember and honor our lost loved ones and our journeys towards healing. Each of you is an inspiration and a source of light. It's an honor to be with you today. I wish you all the best on your journey.<br /><br />In addition to myself, there were many other speakers, including the District Attorney of New York and a number of survivors, who had either lost a loved one or had been victims of crimes themselves. There was a wonderful choir that sang inspirational songs like, "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "We Shall Overcome". <br /><br />I was sitting in the front row next to the commissioner of the NYC Department of Corrections, and I looked up and there was Theresa Sareo speaking to the crowd. She told her story of being struck by a drunk driver on a corner in Manhattan, resulting in her right leg being severed from the hip down. She now has a metal prosthetic leg. As she told her story and how she was helped by victims services counselors, she stood there looking beautiful and strong. She began to sing "Hallelujah" with a gorgeous, soulful voice and tears ran down my cheeks. I think it was the fact that she didn't seem to have an ounce of self pity. She is a courageous survivor.<br /><br />Another inspirational speaker was Nicola Briggs. When a man on the #4 subway train exposed himself and rubbed up against her, she confronted him, and with the help of other passengers and the conductor, she made sure he was immediately arrested once the train stopped. Someone videotaped this incident, and it became a YouTube sensation. Nicola has become a role model for young women to stand up and speak out if they are being violated. <br /><br />The program concluded with the lighting of candles to remember the lives of lost loved ones. This ceremony was led by Vilma Torres, director of Safe Horizon, a wonderful organization that provides support and advocacy for victims of crime and abuse. Vilma was on the post show discussion panel for the 2007 Midtown International Theatre Festival production of "A Line in the Sand". After the candles were lit, members of the audience were invited to say the name of the person they lost aloud. It was very moving. <br /><br />After the program finished, there was an information fair, and I got to hand out my promotional packets and speak with people about my play. I met some educators who seemed quite interested in it. At the very end of the day, Vida Toppin, an elderly woman who's son was mudered, came over to say hello to me and give me a hug. She was another speaker on my 2007 MITF discussion panel. It was wonderful to see her and her lovely, big smile again.<br /><br />All in all, it was an incredible day of inspiration and courage. Thank you to everyone at The Downstate Coalition for Crime Victims for including me: especially Susan, Vilma, Donna, and Beverly. You all did an amazing job!Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-23034770951890156012010-11-28T09:12:00.000-08:002010-12-12T14:38:04.622-08:00The United Solo Festival<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSp098Gy-0LWgzRuuNg4XYReY3DqKN-bA0ItvGqdbT6CsybXEgBhEuV-rOsa_vAkfMJ3xxqquHIRG580FAWTXLFtJzLuWRbQSmMKh1h6OTvAd995iA-6hMDSAt2KxNFRpFmnm7Xq81aIw/s1600/DSC_0662.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSp098Gy-0LWgzRuuNg4XYReY3DqKN-bA0ItvGqdbT6CsybXEgBhEuV-rOsa_vAkfMJ3xxqquHIRG580FAWTXLFtJzLuWRbQSmMKh1h6OTvAd995iA-6hMDSAt2KxNFRpFmnm7Xq81aIw/s320/DSC_0662.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549531520640863090" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV85wvzB_lAi_cOyd1a_-uGCTo1AieNSc2gHJjOxFbV0ahOr0N6CW-FRfHoQCW1KBza5uhyX3c_5Q9DOtPvxFcFIJ5XRHyZ_qXpMhogdZJ_Ts2FAdspnkcokSeMQ4o8TDEyCGtmlEKm5g/s1600/DSC_0660.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV85wvzB_lAi_cOyd1a_-uGCTo1AieNSc2gHJjOxFbV0ahOr0N6CW-FRfHoQCW1KBza5uhyX3c_5Q9DOtPvxFcFIJ5XRHyZ_qXpMhogdZJ_Ts2FAdspnkcokSeMQ4o8TDEyCGtmlEKm5g/s320/DSC_0660.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549531514942025138" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdIplvqLr7yYWgo2OwVTJ8w69PHkfrfn6j5eE1XAmohQMwN5TV4EzMxxWW7lMwZSGc6lP5su5zAlipw8w8QQuoZE8Q6-oU2hvtA-_q9r4GoTQz8zf_AeItTJvwoSs58-m8Nf8a625_YFo/s1600/IMG_2980.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdIplvqLr7yYWgo2OwVTJ8w69PHkfrfn6j5eE1XAmohQMwN5TV4EzMxxWW7lMwZSGc6lP5su5zAlipw8w8QQuoZE8Q6-oU2hvtA-_q9r4GoTQz8zf_AeItTJvwoSs58-m8Nf8a625_YFo/s320/IMG_2980.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549526242039585906" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSGfyL4VYkBwO86-dobNLZXQpY-UtqhyeHb9yZNwIC2B2XB0Y9mFF8DncY6MXe4iOkEbQckfBP9xyADE3nubgahUi61qUYY4I_4jEjD0rC5uaol2oQgupNH5BxkMUpGyo6FgsYyjuyXBU/s1600/IMG_2955.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSGfyL4VYkBwO86-dobNLZXQpY-UtqhyeHb9yZNwIC2B2XB0Y9mFF8DncY6MXe4iOkEbQckfBP9xyADE3nubgahUi61qUYY4I_4jEjD0rC5uaol2oQgupNH5BxkMUpGyo6FgsYyjuyXBU/s320/IMG_2955.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549526235681307202" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQ_s7-nglSDKqMNVWZsCLaotw4xFXv89jan108daj_Bp-ZnV2pYNIdJtjHKu7eqNjkXK2is0UHLja68cjyAaWMxdiC5xqY4bdHGJKfwHgyqOmLxf2Zpds1n-3GBk8_1c6Tzd9p1ntW8A/s1600/DSC_0649.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQ_s7-nglSDKqMNVWZsCLaotw4xFXv89jan108daj_Bp-ZnV2pYNIdJtjHKu7eqNjkXK2is0UHLja68cjyAaWMxdiC5xqY4bdHGJKfwHgyqOmLxf2Zpds1n-3GBk8_1c6Tzd9p1ntW8A/s320/DSC_0649.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549526232000467026" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYYpesJeKrsN6dxzZGta_QZY78IkrP57H27v8HgXg4hMjVmGTAJjGLUCaL4qXQxKzhCGxvet6YmuGrYWw_KygqNjkBoGyujYCFUtdzBhkLi9sphPvnsWaArA6XEU_YF2rpfPAGv9Kp1Hc/s1600/DSC_0655.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYYpesJeKrsN6dxzZGta_QZY78IkrP57H27v8HgXg4hMjVmGTAJjGLUCaL4qXQxKzhCGxvet6YmuGrYWw_KygqNjkBoGyujYCFUtdzBhkLi9sphPvnsWaArA6XEU_YF2rpfPAGv9Kp1Hc/s320/DSC_0655.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549526227797092466" /></a><br />I performed A LINE IN THE SAND at The United Solo Theatre Festival on November 16th. It was exciting to do the show at Theatre Row on 42nd Street, just a few blocks from all the Broadway theaters. I performed in the Studio Theatre, 65 seats. We had a good house. A couple of educators came. Several friends who'd seen it before came back to see it again. My long time acting teacher, Suzanne Shepherd, also came to see it. During the post show discussion, she congratulated me for my commitment to such an important topic, and she said that the play shows that our society is poison. <br /><br />My friend, Edie Smith, former president of the the NYC branch of the Million Moms' March, co-lead the discussion with me. We discussed with the audience the degree of progress we've made with gun control laws since Columbine. It hasn't been much. We also discussed <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_tHSfhQpZw">bullying in high schools</a>. <br /><br />A special treat was seeing my set designer, Lea Umberger. She was in town, and she came in during the tech rehearsal to help us with a few changes to the power point presentation.<br /><br />All in all it was a very good experience. I felt very focused up on the stage. My acting is deepening with the years.Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-8444380940219812972010-04-20T11:12:00.000-07:002010-04-23T14:42:20.809-07:00Columbine: 11 years later<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi000FVu464cB48XwrXWmR-Rvvv4_45wBXuJuC7IQkwZPnj7NFDS4Xhx1Q4H-BIkktjkGiQMmymI-eF1QmAqNaNhzGWnSvGPppXr_d2nwc0JvgY3MjVkpiTDY8wjx8lsF_Br1udVKuBxVU/s1600/IMG_0401.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi000FVu464cB48XwrXWmR-Rvvv4_45wBXuJuC7IQkwZPnj7NFDS4Xhx1Q4H-BIkktjkGiQMmymI-eF1QmAqNaNhzGWnSvGPppXr_d2nwc0JvgY3MjVkpiTDY8wjx8lsF_Br1udVKuBxVU/s320/IMG_0401.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463451382538038098" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwjnKBAjPlx1C83v5eQGlYaN4vfxdS5O2QOoIXrGkVMVCLPlV6y51skGsQyOTf7FwZgetX69t2TYvrY-yaXQlr5ihyS1xIj7vivt4YM6z183lGOP_I2sMvIbL4Jwj4TcP9JT9tDD2yLU/s1600/CIMG0189.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwjnKBAjPlx1C83v5eQGlYaN4vfxdS5O2QOoIXrGkVMVCLPlV6y51skGsQyOTf7FwZgetX69t2TYvrY-yaXQlr5ihyS1xIj7vivt4YM6z183lGOP_I2sMvIbL4Jwj4TcP9JT9tDD2yLU/s320/CIMG0189.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463449482028550738" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_y1d-Ft4sDpJeUouWYdEoc97GnDzSEzyIyJvG5bTQLLa4nKvbvB-2b_Jz233FdNDflps-_9S3dHmomMlPvXxX2W_iw2RrjGSIi6rYEUDcgxmJmRk88KeGWrqG9YjWCF7WldP_d-JWZ0/s1600/CIMG0188.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_y1d-Ft4sDpJeUouWYdEoc97GnDzSEzyIyJvG5bTQLLa4nKvbvB-2b_Jz233FdNDflps-_9S3dHmomMlPvXxX2W_iw2RrjGSIi6rYEUDcgxmJmRk88KeGWrqG9YjWCF7WldP_d-JWZ0/s320/CIMG0188.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463449472169135186" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNEfFPZgrVO0dV4Dok0EAjxj71rQ3LaEddrGkUyW8UwMtuFMdo-YasVY-BkH9-lK5S8-kfx3Wa0nFvr24N6VZWXsEKStBEKvVxqk2XtKk-ZLGHheFhsVWr6L9hZ-W2QJeSGHVYodvtojA/s1600/IMG_0407.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNEfFPZgrVO0dV4Dok0EAjxj71rQ3LaEddrGkUyW8UwMtuFMdo-YasVY-BkH9-lK5S8-kfx3Wa0nFvr24N6VZWXsEKStBEKvVxqk2XtKk-ZLGHheFhsVWr6L9hZ-W2QJeSGHVYodvtojA/s320/IMG_0407.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463362212906669074" /></a><br /><br />Well, it's not a major decade marker like last year, but to the family and friends of the 13 victims every anniversary of this horrible tragedy is painful and significant. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.<br /><br />Let us remember the victims:<br /><br />Cassie Bernall<br />Steven Curnow<br />Corey Depooter<br />Kelly Fleming<br />Matt Kechter<br />Daniel Mauser<br />Daniel Rohrbough<br />Coach Dave Sanders<br />Rachel Scott<br />Isaiah Shoels<br />John Tomlin<br />Lauren Townsend<br />Kyle Velasquez<br /><br />Let us also remember the 23 injured students and those that made it out of the library and alive and their families.<br /><br />Especially the ones that I interviewed:<br /><br />Richard Castaldo and his mother, Connie Michalik<br />Sean Graves and his mother, Natalie<br />Lance Kirklin and his father, Mike<br />Crystal Woodman and her mother, Cindy<br />Lindsay ElmoreAdinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-69864698739492302702010-04-16T14:03:00.000-07:002010-04-20T14:24:44.011-07:003rd Anniversary of Virginia Tech shootings<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP7QTjXXKZgftGO48pzs8svGXvjOkVSlOtiAt6mUPROKZKIDAd222hVgzRIxlw9wM2VVQMuyoTA4G77XLQlgDnjbHkpSxN7sl5WvJadfBHP70rzFYvodjH_-7mFBxZh8gkoDXLfo2t2SU/s1600/DSC_0024.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP7QTjXXKZgftGO48pzs8svGXvjOkVSlOtiAt6mUPROKZKIDAd222hVgzRIxlw9wM2VVQMuyoTA4G77XLQlgDnjbHkpSxN7sl5WvJadfBHP70rzFYvodjH_-7mFBxZh8gkoDXLfo2t2SU/s320/DSC_0024.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462333545782335234" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Knpisb3Zan0oUcBdRGJBGPra4GdzRF4DPjAa9DQ2c196frktICRhIO_W-PFQnuls3zzdmwFET8xOOc3G4DmoaXa8mcQqM3wMmg46Y97gWHugXWgGIN_n19Ndkqs0iLOUzZZV4oBv2A0/s1600/DSC_0053.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Knpisb3Zan0oUcBdRGJBGPra4GdzRF4DPjAa9DQ2c196frktICRhIO_W-PFQnuls3zzdmwFET8xOOc3G4DmoaXa8mcQqM3wMmg46Y97gWHugXWgGIN_n19Ndkqs0iLOUzZZV4oBv2A0/s320/DSC_0053.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462331922653744658" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBbnu3B52fO27nOxZQ0pj7ZHY6PwTblpa9o1yqE7yoXTMWc11bl2krgv6JYhgte7zKHbHfyv31rI3fSfsu4mC1UtDKEPIHu0ZWi3NQ8ouNY_6ns0ULuKyq2xL0aYDPChyPXyR53FIxa4/s1600/DSC_0032.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBbnu3B52fO27nOxZQ0pj7ZHY6PwTblpa9o1yqE7yoXTMWc11bl2krgv6JYhgte7zKHbHfyv31rI3fSfsu4mC1UtDKEPIHu0ZWi3NQ8ouNY_6ns0ULuKyq2xL0aYDPChyPXyR53FIxa4/s320/DSC_0032.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462330864909120994" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLOKRB41xFnCtFUA97YKbJ_5p0WPvPPNf5LPEoFKGCgGOJ4SeTX_pFIVZNRerkjdldPgPT8bkqzacSGxpOTnhK1W5qwrK6BgU03Z1GJcn9xQDHaYUp0npYxZYtm8eqge4LCcu6gBklxJc/s1600/DSC_0019.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLOKRB41xFnCtFUA97YKbJ_5p0WPvPPNf5LPEoFKGCgGOJ4SeTX_pFIVZNRerkjdldPgPT8bkqzacSGxpOTnhK1W5qwrK6BgU03Z1GJcn9xQDHaYUp0npYxZYtm8eqge4LCcu6gBklxJc/s320/DSC_0019.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462330856636161666" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8u2DJ47RKAc0gE0ZDCTgSe9IpX0gIi4IauYCQ_OsQYxwjDHm-qDtydumD7L8sLEtPk3oC-WlQhqwVTNtoSDEBfgB14NobYGB7gaDMmhVW5KgkrzcnkMPdEliNfYJx-c-h93l9NNtz0E/s1600/DSC_0004.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8u2DJ47RKAc0gE0ZDCTgSe9IpX0gIi4IauYCQ_OsQYxwjDHm-qDtydumD7L8sLEtPk3oC-WlQhqwVTNtoSDEBfgB14NobYGB7gaDMmhVW5KgkrzcnkMPdEliNfYJx-c-h93l9NNtz0E/s320/DSC_0004.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462330850818427170" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOohaUU-xd1sXFLEJtgaDa4rvgNgo1pYt3KWu5CNReIsv24tGjoWhrBmqc2JcE9ucFfMwZpgK75J-e5_1H2CQanSEm2zo1kvalN79LVIAFn7cRBHHQTrb6V5sIm2a0bXVKMlfT4mwnS3s/s1600/DSC_0006.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOohaUU-xd1sXFLEJtgaDa4rvgNgo1pYt3KWu5CNReIsv24tGjoWhrBmqc2JcE9ucFfMwZpgK75J-e5_1H2CQanSEm2zo1kvalN79LVIAFn7cRBHHQTrb6V5sIm2a0bXVKMlfT4mwnS3s/s320/DSC_0006.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462022739122413074" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWrSu72sTh7jXdIv6enk2K6iREWBmeUfN2BZpydwqdJDndLHzUDsO_YiF4mNSMEgMTLVktkcyjkW_VkqC75iW14TbL-pj1DI-DuyRFqfm8Er6tmryqoytGKMm3q7QrLcBD5cbPimZxhI/s1600/DSC_0001.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWrSu72sTh7jXdIv6enk2K6iREWBmeUfN2BZpydwqdJDndLHzUDsO_YiF4mNSMEgMTLVktkcyjkW_VkqC75iW14TbL-pj1DI-DuyRFqfm8Er6tmryqoytGKMm3q7QrLcBD5cbPimZxhI/s320/DSC_0001.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462022725217935410" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1kPSaVTtfXa_Cr47yMh0XOkneIBfAopcuoIIYanhXrnXo69XHKUV31_Upz6TQip6G9xj6QwuenF-ZWSC9iGMrTX_9Lau-ayYak0XXSIHKm2M8ITxZm2iA6IU3GyZfM9Y3CMbrgVek52A/s1600/DSC_0042.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1kPSaVTtfXa_Cr47yMh0XOkneIBfAopcuoIIYanhXrnXo69XHKUV31_Upz6TQip6G9xj6QwuenF-ZWSC9iGMrTX_9Lau-ayYak0XXSIHKm2M8ITxZm2iA6IU3GyZfM9Y3CMbrgVek52A/s320/DSC_0042.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462022715364268450" /></a><br /><br />Today, for the 3rd year in a row. I went to the Lie-in in Times Square to protest the easy availability of guns, and to honor the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings.<br /><br />32 of us wore black and sashes with the orange and maroon colors of Virginia Tech. We each read a name of one of the 32 victims and then lay down on the ground. I held a strip of white paper and read, "Lauren McCain, age 20, a freshman in International Studies from Hampton, Virginia." Then, I lay down on top of two garbage bags, sandwiched in between two other protesters. I looked up and the cloudy sky and the huge building above me, and then I closed my eyes to appear dead. The names continued to be read, until all 32 were completed and everyone was on the ground. We lay there in silence for 3 minutes, which is as long as it takes for a person to purchase a gun without a proper background check.<br /><br />Lauren McCain was also planning on majoring in German. She mentioned two heroes on her MySpace page: Jesus Christ and her brother, Joel. She loved all music, except Country. She liked Sci-Fi movies. Her friend, Matt Croushorn, said, "She was a really nice person. She was smart. She was fun to talk to."<br /><br />Several people spoke about the urgent need to create laws to stop the easy access to guns. Megan Meadows spoke first. She spoke eloquently about her friend, Reema Samaha, one of the 32 victims at Virginia Tech. Next up was Jackie Hilly, Executive Director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. She spoke about the need for passing legislation to require background checks on gun sales at gun shows, and she mentioned that her organization is pressing New York State to pass “microstamping” legislation that would help police in effectively tracing guns recovered in crimes. Then, NY City public advocate, Bill Belasio, spoke, echoing the need for tougher gun laws. And finally Michelle Schimel, member of the State Assembly from Long Island and sponsor of the microstamping bill, spoke passionately to the crowd, pleading for support to get the bill through.Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-27315060966412034892009-09-26T08:42:00.000-07:002009-09-28T09:02:42.606-07:00Performing in Colorado at last<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJcSuIZSxuLrT1IR4LAuyNKcH3_M4GmKiRCggsLbJ4GOD_Qe_hr9XpUppXMFDDzrMGPNzNUe1dMfI-KAtFmiewbBafivnmEqQciGYgepHm5cBlQR_gYHOLbC-XiOr2NAR5Bb41bvng04/s1600-h/CIMG0170.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJcSuIZSxuLrT1IR4LAuyNKcH3_M4GmKiRCggsLbJ4GOD_Qe_hr9XpUppXMFDDzrMGPNzNUe1dMfI-KAtFmiewbBafivnmEqQciGYgepHm5cBlQR_gYHOLbC-XiOr2NAR5Bb41bvng04/s320/CIMG0170.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386549321633321778" /></a><br />I am in Boulder! After 10 years of working on "A Line in the Sand", I finally have an opportunity to perform the play for a Colorado audience. Boulder is just 45 minutes away from Columbine High School, in Littleton. I was invited to perform here as part of The Moondance International Film Festival in Boulder. This is the 10th year of the festival and the 10th anniversary year of Columbine. I have won the award for Best Stageplay, and the wonderful founder and director of the festival, Elizabeth English, invited to me to perform "A Line in the Sand" at the festival.<br /><br />I have been attending networking parties and screenings, doing last minute publicity for the show, calling the families of the victims to invite them, putting together my discussion panel, trying to fit in some hiking. IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL HERE. It rained the first two days, but now it's blue, blue skies and Rocky Mountain peaks. I am staying at the base of the Flatiron mountain in Chautauqua Park. My cottage was built in 1915. There are pictures of the cottages from those days on the wall in my living room. They look like canvas tents. There's another picture of an old trolley car that used to take people around the park. Amazing history here. I met the local historian and groundskeeper, Steve. I have some video of him talking about the park. For the past 20 years, he has been in charge of renovating the cottages. The look old on the outside, but inside they have modern renovations, very charming.<br /><br />It has been a bit daunting trying to get the people that I interviewed 10 years ago to come see the play. Some of the parents of the victims said they don't want to "go back there," which I completely understand. After 10 years, they want to move on and have some peace. Others are driven to try to prevent this kind of horrific loss from happening to other families. Tom Mauser, the father of Daniel Mauser, one of the 13 victims, has devoted the last 10 years to working for gun control. Please see my blog entry on Daniel to learn more about Tom's work, or go to www.danielmauser.com<br /><br />Tom has agreed to speak on my post show discussion panel tomorrow after the performance. Connie Michalik, mother of injured Columbine student, Richard Castaldo, will also be speaking. Both Connie and Richard appeared in Michael Moore's film, "Bowling for Columbine." In the film, they go to the Denver Kmart store with Michael Moore to ask them to stop selling bullets, and because of their efforts, Kmart doesn't sell bullets anymore. <br /><br />Connie was so kind to me when I came to interview her and Richard at their home in 1999. Richard was shot outside of Columbine, along with Rachel Scott, who was killed. They were eating lunch together. Richard was paralyzed from the waist down. He was in good spirits when I spoke to him and his girlfriend at the time. After the interview, Connie invited me to go with her to Columbine High School. Richard had to attend a practice session with the marching band. Later, Connie and I talked some more at the local IHOP. <br /><br />When we spoke on the phone last week, she told me that Richard is doing great. He is trying to get into sound engineering out in California. He is still paralyzed, but Connie said they are hoping that progress in stem cell research will eventually help him to walk again. <br /><br />Off to hike and rehearse.<br /><br />more soon with video and photos....Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-52277095929695324562009-09-12T08:40:00.000-07:002009-09-14T14:15:33.669-07:00Reflections: April 20, 2009: Columbine, 10 years Later (Part 8)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbzOQYcBFAPN88wQb7iAw_62gddC-4dSNTgaGX_59q11C8rl5IWk4HVNqCvk7JY5FgiQWNECsJk9XDbt4lxxFLHdKTnocQliJ6ZQY1fbZ-lbqgvuMlw5hyXQ3cFZdOje7sQUp6chrDKNw/s1600-h/rachel2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 88px; height: 86px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbzOQYcBFAPN88wQb7iAw_62gddC-4dSNTgaGX_59q11C8rl5IWk4HVNqCvk7JY5FgiQWNECsJk9XDbt4lxxFLHdKTnocQliJ6ZQY1fbZ-lbqgvuMlw5hyXQ3cFZdOje7sQUp6chrDKNw/s320/rachel2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380607295689340610" /></a><br /><br />Rachel Scott, 17<br /><br />In the Spring of 2000, I heard Rachel's father, Darrell Scott, speak at a small fundraiser for a local group in Denver. There were about a hundred people in the room, at the most. Darrell was used to speaking to groups of up to 30,000 people in large public arenas. After Rachel was murdered at Columbine, Darrell and his wife, Sandy, founded Rachel's Challenge, with the following mission:<br /><br />"We exist to inspire, equip and empower every person to create a permanent positive culture change in their school, business and community by starting a chain reaction of kindness and compassion."<br /><br />Since it's inception, Rachel's Challenge has had the following impact in schools:<br /><br />3,300 schools (high schools and middle schools)<br />Multiple stadium and large venue events<br />50 states and six countries<br />11,000,000 people reached with the message<br />Seven documented school shootings/violence prevented<br />Hundreds of suicides averted<br /><br />The Rachel's Challenge Summit will be held in Denver, in June of 2010.<br /><br />"Presentations will focus on creating a safe and productive learning environment by delivering antidotes to violence and bullying."<br /><br />To learn more about Rachel's Challenge, <a href="http:// www.rachelschallenge.org">please go to www.rachelschallenge.org</a><br /><br />Here is an excerpt from Darrell's talk, that I attended:<br /><br />Wow, it's nice to be a living room setting. This is the smallest group I've spoken to, and I told Sandy on the way over, I said, "I think I'm more nervous." So, it's good to be here with you tonight.<br /><br />So, I'm not... I don't feel motivated to give you a 30,000 people presentation because I, I just want to talk to you a little bit from my heart tonight. My, my agenda is, is, uh, is very simple. It is a spiritual agenda. Uh, I don't think that you're kids in the word today are looking for religion. In fact, they're kind of sick of it. But they are looking for real answers, and they're looking for real people to give them real answers. <br /><br />Um, Columbine to me, looking back over the last 11 months is, has truly been a spiritual event. <br /><br />Rachel left with us a series of journals, that would reach my knee if they were stacked from the ground up. One of them, I carry with me, and I never, uh, open this, because I don't want it to get worn out or, or the pages to get frayed. This was in her backpack the day that she was killed. There's a bullet hole that goes halfway through the diary. And it goes in at the spot where she had written on the page, "I won't be labeled as average." And on the front, she wrote these words, "I write not for the sake of glory, not for the sake of fame, not for the sake of success, but for the sake of my soul. Rachael Joy." <br /><br />And Rachael poured into her journals incredible wisdom for a 17 year old. She poured into it, um, prophetic pictures, prophetic poems. You'll see why I'm saying that later on, that there was a prophetic element about the Columbine tragedy, that she drew a picture of thirty minutes before she was killed. And in the last poem that she wrote, you'll see in her own hand, a portion of that poem that deals with her relationship with God and with her school. And she says in that poem, "God, who will you give to walk with me through these halls of tragedy?" <br /><br />And out of this terrible, terrible tragedy, over the last 11 months, I personally, with my own eyes, have seen tens of thousands of young people have their lives changed. And I have seen closure come to parents who lost children, come up and talk to me by the sometimes by the dozen. I've seen so much good come out of something that was so horrible. And I know that Rachel would not change anything where she's concerned, because she wanted her life to count. She didn't view herself as average. <br />From the time she was 12 years old, she had a very clear cut vision of what she wanted in life, and she went after it. And her two greatest desires were to be, uh, an actress and a missionary. Now you go figure that out. I don't know how those two coincide, but ironically through her death she's able. <br /><br />There's interest in books. There are books that have already been written. There is one called, "Martyr's March," which is about her life, uh, and several more coming out. She'll be seen in television and, and movies, and is constantly, everywhere we go she's usually a lead story in the city that we're in. <br /><br />But, um, more importantly than that, she's become a missionary. She's been used to see literary hundreds of thousands of people. Her funeral was the largest viewing audience that CNN ever had in its entire history. Um, we've received 25,000 pieces of mail, not counting the phone calls, e-mails. We are constantly, still bombarded, from all over the world, from people whose lives were affected. I used to meet people on airplanes all the time that, uh, my daughter's funeral, they watched it or it affected some member of their family. So, she did have an impact on the world. She only lived 17 years, but it was a full life, and through her death she accomplished things that she wrote about and dreamed about. <br /><br />So, I want you just to meet Rachel, um, in pictures, Her middle name is Joy, and she was a joy to everybody that knew her. This is from when she was little. (He shows a slide) And you'll notice the tilting of the head. She does this in almost every photograph. It's like a pose that she struck, and as she got older it's almost like her hair got heavier or something, but her head tilts more and more.<br /><br />Rachal was one those babies, I have five children, and she's one of those that just lights up a room when she walks in. She was the, the fireplug, you know, of our family. And, um, she just had that joy from the time she was just a tiny baby. <br /><br />This was something I found that is still in her wallet, uh, in her billfold, in her purse after she died. And it's, uh, still hard for me to read. But years ago I had made her, made up little themes, and this was one of them. "Suspected to stealing little boys' hearts and definitely guilty of stealing her dad's heart." And she was guilty of that. <br /><br /><br /><br />Rachel's mother, Beth Nimmo, started the website, <a href="http://www.racheljoyscott.com">www.racheljoyscott.com</a><br />Beth has a new book out entitled, "Through a Mother's Eyes."Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-50840278862762299272009-09-10T09:01:00.000-07:002009-09-15T13:23:25.188-07:00Reflections: April 20, 2009: Columbine, 10 years Later (Part 9)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZ6n5u014XROf-VaT_OEn8jWMSUVozF19I_xc-BBHEXoyfjnhhmJ6uCR0GOKhnQTpzqXXNq6HEfwMF5HIwwF5HY-8IX1mxOpr45jBh0GvmgoPmbycpRxkZgoE7kv3IK276OPt0xnfEd8/s1600-h/isaiah2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 87px; height: 87px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZ6n5u014XROf-VaT_OEn8jWMSUVozF19I_xc-BBHEXoyfjnhhmJ6uCR0GOKhnQTpzqXXNq6HEfwMF5HIwwF5HY-8IX1mxOpr45jBh0GvmgoPmbycpRxkZgoE7kv3IK276OPt0xnfEd8/s320/isaiah2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379871078577189010" /></a><br /><br />Isaiah Shoels,18<br /><br />Isaiah dreamed of becoming a music executive. After graduating from Columbine, he wanted to attend an arts college. <br /><br />I interviewed his parents, Michael and Vonda Shoels, in July of 2000 at there home in Houston, Texas. They had moved there, because they no longer felt comfortable living in Littleton, Colorado.<br /><br />They were part of a group lawsuit filed by some of the victims' families against the parents of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, the Jefferson County Sherriff's Department, and Columbine High School for negligence. The lawsuits against The Jeffco Sheriff's Department and the school were dismissed by the court in 2001. The judge stated that the two entities met the claim of government immunity. Both the Harrises and the Klebolds reached a $1.56 settlement agreement with 30 families with children who were either killed or wounded in the massacre.<br /><br />Here is an excerpt from my interview with Michael and Vonda:<br /><br />MICHAEL: My goodness. I mean, people say that like we supposed to be doing all well and better. I mean, but we done lost...that's a big loss, you know what I'm saying? I mean, that's a part, just like a part of your body being ripped away from you, with and, you know, that part without it then treated, and you know what it does? It causes pain and irritation and, you know what I'm saying, exposure. You know, maybe it's a process, but right now, I mean, I feel like it just happened yesterday. And I don't know how long I'm going to feel that way, but you it is very painful. I didn't know there was such pain, you know what I'm saying? I didn't know pain existed like that, until after this. I mean, this is worse than any physical pain that any man could get. I mean, I rather for them to rip my arm off or my leg than to take one of my babies. So, you know, that's--this thing is real. I mean, there is no end to it. The way I feel today, there is no end. I feel just like it happened yesterday. I mean, because I can see it over and over in my mind how it was done, you know, and how it was put together, and things was ignored, and how my home was treated, you know, by this whole thing being put into process. <br /><br />So, but, uh, you know, my son had his whole life in front of him, you know, and it's gone now. We never will see grandchildren from him. We never will see his real expectations of being an adult, a caring adult, where I know for sure that he'd have made a difference in the world today. His mark would have been if he would have lived anyway, so that's not the point. The point is the human side of us want him back. I mean, you can't...the pain is real. But, uh, you know, there is a spiritual side, and I just hope he's resting now, you know what I'm saying? Hope he's in a peaceful place, wherever it is. <br /><br />Isaiah wanted to be in the light. And, uh, you know, he was going to take over my company. I had a production company back then, a record label, which is Notorious Records. And, uh, he would have took it over, once he finished school he'd have took it over. Because, I mean, you know, he'd been trained to do that all his life. He's been in the music all of his life really, because I've been in music ever since he's been here. So, you know, when he was reared up, you know, watching me draw up contracts and things, so really as far as I'm concerned he needed no education as far as running this company, because he knew how. He knew how to go talk to people, he knew how to scout, everything about this business he knew how to do it. I had big plans for him, and as far as I can say, I was robbed. (gestures to Vonda) We both was robbed. He will never be able to show me his greatest potential. That's something we will never see. <br /><br />People should take their parenthood back. That's what it's all about. Uh, and the reason I started this, I was thinking about a promise that me and his mother made him 72 hours before this thing happened. He asked us what would we do if someone shot down all of our children. I mean he asked my wife that, out of no where. And, uh, we was going down the highway, and, uh, well I stopped the van and we both, you know, we had a conversation about it. And, uh, my wife told him that, you know, we're Christian people so we can't be vengeful because if we did what they did, went and got guns and killed them, well we wouldn't be no better than they was. And that's when we told him quotes out of the Bible, "God said let all vengeance be mine. Let all revenges be mine." And that's what we told him. Then, I turned around and told him, you know, I asked him was there anyone up there at the school bothering him or his sister or brother that was up there with him. And, you know, he constantly said no. He just told us no. So, after it was all said and done we both promised him that if anything happens to any one of his brothers or sisters by any kind of foul play that we would speak against that for the rest of our lives. I mean, we will combat it, fight it, or whatever. Physically, mentally, or whatever, we will do what we have to do to keep that from happening to anybody else. We told him this. Right then. But I never knew, I never knew that we would be honoring this 72 hours after the conversation we had with him. <br /><br />So, that was my boiling point, and all I could think about was the promise that me and my wife made him three days--I mean, three days prior we had this conversation. So, that's what made me get out there and start doing what I was doing. <br /><br />And it didn't make an sense of what was going on there in Colorado. I mean, my goodness, they act like we pulled the trigger. You know, they start treating us just because we asked one question: what happened in that school? And we had a right to ask what happened because of what, you know, we had son that died in that school. We had a son that died in that school, so that's what gave us the opportunity to ask about what happened. You ain't supposed to tell us to hold on, or hold off, let us go and run this investigation. That's isn't the way to talk to somebody under those circumstances. I got fed up with it. I said, you going to answer some questions. Somebody going to answer some questions, because it sound like to me you all trying to get something else together. So, what happened is I told them that, you know, I'd gotten an attorney. <br /><br />And see people talking about this thing for the money. This thing is not for the money, this thing is doing the same thing as when they call civil disobedience, or whatever you want to call it. It's because I figured my son's civil rights was tampered with when he was shot down in that school, when he was slain down. And I feel like somebody has to answer to what happened in that school that day. And wasn't nobody going to say nothing until we started tampering with their pockets. You know, people, they don't care less what you say. I mean, if it don't hurt them in no kind of way. You know, because talk is only talk. But when you got tampering with their existence, and that's their money or whatever they want to call it, their security, then they start talking and being more persistent. And this is what this lawsuit is all about. They said well why are you doing it for so much? Well, if I'd have did it for $100,000 they couldn't have cared, because all of them would have chipped in together and throwed it out. Because I wouldn't have gotten no answers from that, you see what I'm saying? So, that's why we've put such a big amount on it [250 million], and that will let them know that we mean business. We want to find out what happened in that school. And whatever we have to do, we are willing to do. Mm-hmm. You know good and well we're not going to get that kind of money. But we will get the attention to let them know we mean business. We want to know what happened in that school. And we will take it to court if that's what need be. Somebody's going to answer to what happened in that school. See, that give us subpoena power if we did that. So, you know, I mean it's all--it's all about finding out the truth. <br /><br />ADINA: Why are you suing the parents?<br /><br />VONDA: Because they should have known what their kids was doing in that house. <br /><br />MICHAEL: They should have know what their kids was doing.<br /><br />VONDA: They should have known that their kids was making bombs. I mean, I went on the Montel Williams show, and there was a lady, her and her son came on the show. Her son went to Columbine. And she lived a few houses down from the--I don't know if it was the Klebolds or the Harrises, I don't know which one, but it was one of them. And she actually got on the show and said she heard glass breaking, sawing, hammering. I mean, she heard all kinds--and she said it wasn't right. So, if she heard it, then how many other people heard that? And the audience was asking her, "Well why didn't you call the police?" Well, she did not know what they were doing down there, you know. She can't lean out of her house and say "Hey, what are you doing down there?" So, I think the parents should have known. It's no telling how many people know what they were doing in there.<br /><br />MICHAEL: We even heard that one of the dads helped one of the kids disarm one of the bombs, and put it in the closet.<br /><br />VONDA: Uh-huh. That was in a magazine. I don't know what magazine, but one of the parents helped their son disarm it and put it back in the closet. <br /><br />ADINA: So they knew it was there?<br /><br />VONDA: They knew, someone knew. But they were just too-- I don't know if they were scared of their kids. It seemed like they were so frightened of their kids, that it was easier to keep quiet. And I understand you can't watch your kids 24 hours a day, but you should know some things that they're doing, you know? If they were building these bombs, where was the parents parking their car? I mean, did the kids let them in their garage, or it just sounds real strange.<br /><br />MICHAEL: There's a lot of unanswered questions. Let's just go and call an apple an apple and an orange an orange. See, they been trying to cover this thing up for a year and a half, see? And we ain't going to let them cover it up, because we had a part in that thing right there. We had something taken away from us that will never be back. And we are going to, we are going to fight and, and we are going to do what we have to do to come to the truth, because how are we going to heal? I mean, you can't heal if you going to put a band-aid on it and not put, uh, uh, some kind of bacterialcide on it, or you know something to fight the germs or something that will kill the, the impurity in that wound. Now, how you going to do anything, how you going to heal from that? And that's the way I feel. I feel like there's a, uh, it's cancer going on around. And that's exactly how that situation is being treated. There's things not being said, you know, that need to be said. There's things being covered up that didn't need to be covered up, you see what I'm saying? So, that's what I'm talking about.Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-69928105725427122062009-08-15T08:28:00.000-07:002009-08-15T09:06:55.487-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKjmq9vppRNKuQ64NHeIGOukn2M_udkb6jcypATQmhaTwrDP7A2fOB0T3Br4rBRjChEBTgl-LokTQuHdu58ETt76eaPYxaTXxaLJZKV2qcTVElbC3zwX6AxifyGElY9JTsOCaAiu4mHDM/s1600-h/kirsten_gillibrand.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 244px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKjmq9vppRNKuQ64NHeIGOukn2M_udkb6jcypATQmhaTwrDP7A2fOB0T3Br4rBRjChEBTgl-LokTQuHdu58ETt76eaPYxaTXxaLJZKV2qcTVElbC3zwX6AxifyGElY9JTsOCaAiu4mHDM/s320/kirsten_gillibrand.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370222287305990178" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8gNWZ_dQOIyN2Z8RvwHx-r7JfktHbFi3Sv803Kb3slikmaP5noHmoIeGvfyJcLDKUnvwFXz9c7DzhNXhE4aF8O5L1c_iIP4fOfzQVMdxol5ewJLFQ4hJLtA7Rb_eGHT7-ebsXo-ByDw/s1600-h/S000148.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8gNWZ_dQOIyN2Z8RvwHx-r7JfktHbFi3Sv803Kb3slikmaP5noHmoIeGvfyJcLDKUnvwFXz9c7DzhNXhE4aF8O5L1c_iIP4fOfzQVMdxol5ewJLFQ4hJLtA7Rb_eGHT7-ebsXo-ByDw/s320/S000148.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370222282870153650" /></a><br />Sorry, I've been away for a bit. Went to California for a few weeks. Also, broke my finger, which makes typing a challenge.<br /><br />While I was on vacation, I called my New York senators, Chuck Schumer and the lovely Kirsten Gillibrand, to urge them to oppose the Thune Amendment. Actually, I spoke to their assistants, but it still felt good.<br /><br />Especially, since the amendment was defeated!!!<br /><br />Great <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/us/politics/23guns.html">article</a> in the NY Times about it. <br /><br />Keep fighting the good fight.<br /><br />With a little patience, we will live to see a less violent tomorrow.Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-68870128770177713012009-06-23T08:31:00.000-07:002009-06-23T09:03:33.199-07:00Happy Birthday, Reema Samaha<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFrkABZ6xUbb4_3E8wL7i1SiGf9cjxHIuHV-RTwKo35C7aDTcWL-yNnaLRkVJ5vvc3UxanMskfxBpK7zWmyT0fWFpnBDx7u4Hf0G17a_TrBFpfnLr8TsrdP_qC8wQE4nvL5kH5W7Hj5OU/s1600-h/_MG_7541.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 173px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFrkABZ6xUbb4_3E8wL7i1SiGf9cjxHIuHV-RTwKo35C7aDTcWL-yNnaLRkVJ5vvc3UxanMskfxBpK7zWmyT0fWFpnBDx7u4Hf0G17a_TrBFpfnLr8TsrdP_qC8wQE4nvL5kH5W7Hj5OU/s320/_MG_7541.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350549102050890034" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiipKg3UNVPgTnnBp0g3wr0YOm23yYujaJYocWuSKNXEpoiTk4q6jOmn2VXxQSl1-JSRjtBayd_d3IX-xg4auphGDxNXA7OD6JYJSONOcWYNBDRNvpDopc671f-gzQyzZL_HTHXGnYwlw/s1600-h/ReemaSamaha2.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 117px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiipKg3UNVPgTnnBp0g3wr0YOm23yYujaJYocWuSKNXEpoiTk4q6jOmn2VXxQSl1-JSRjtBayd_d3IX-xg4auphGDxNXA7OD6JYJSONOcWYNBDRNvpDopc671f-gzQyzZL_HTHXGnYwlw/s320/ReemaSamaha2.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350549101950793970" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj949m4WPYyHhnmsqQwnvbDDYhwi7vFpf-RIJlPyPn0EG4MNEAJa4nRnizAKcy4_4gCpcJeipRZmfqyzYUoO4RuifzEBQh3Xb8f_saNYBLj4aJOL1A7lIjUwTjLDvj_ANIxKkCO7B844z0/s1600-h/ReemaSamaha3.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 158px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj949m4WPYyHhnmsqQwnvbDDYhwi7vFpf-RIJlPyPn0EG4MNEAJa4nRnizAKcy4_4gCpcJeipRZmfqyzYUoO4RuifzEBQh3Xb8f_saNYBLj4aJOL1A7lIjUwTjLDvj_ANIxKkCO7B844z0/s320/ReemaSamaha3.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350549099428119106" /></a><br /><br /><br />I must pause from working on my Columbine entries for a moment to wish Reema Samaha a very Happy Birthday.<br /><br />Today, Reema Samaha would have been 21 years old. Reema was one of the 32 victims who was murdered on April 16, 2007 at Virginia Tech. She was the youngest of three children born to Joseph and Mona Samaha of Centreville, Virginia, where she lived for her entire life. Reema was very close to her family. Her older brother, Omar, preceded her to Virginia Tech, and her sister, Randa, attended the University of Virginia. Reema was passionate about theater and dance. At Westfield High School, she performed for their dance team, and she was a member of their improvisational group. Reema appeared in both plays and musicals, including "Oklahoma" and "Arsenic and Old Lace", for which she won rave reviews. She graduated summa cum laude from Westfield. At Viginia Tech, Reema continued to follow her passion for dance, participating in several groups there. She also had a 4.0 GPA, and she intended to major in Urban Planning and International Studies, with a minor in French.<br /><br />Abby Spangler, founder of <a href="http://www.protesteasyguns.com">Protest Easy Guns</a> wrote on her Facebook page this morning, “My heart aches and aches for the Samaha family. The fight against lax U.S. gun laws is in memory of the 32 massacre victims and all Americans whose lives are ripped from them by gun violence. Felons and dangerous individuals have very easy access to guns and are murdering and devastating our loving families. Our U.S. legislators will not act unless we Americans DEMAND it.”<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Wherever you are right now, Reema, I hope you are happy and dancing.<br /></span><br /><br />To learn more about Reema Samaha’s life, please view her website:<a href="http://www.reemasamaha.org"></a> www.reemasamaha.orgAdinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-8892831525875724422009-05-23T18:11:00.000-07:002009-06-13T12:21:49.636-07:00Reflections: April 20, 2009: Columbine, 10 years Later (Part 7)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj369Yyzp0KecFxhZPmBk1zi8PCX45jLkxolgBc6zMJWSRBy1miGSLzA5J4FW3L-oX6pQOcixhCndF_s0VCWp1O8PWW_uAqWyx3DyLh-hOqbrWq-SZKDi_2L1pM68_D8vQH_aV662MIYiE/s1600-h/sanders2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 94px; height: 90px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj369Yyzp0KecFxhZPmBk1zi8PCX45jLkxolgBc6zMJWSRBy1miGSLzA5J4FW3L-oX6pQOcixhCndF_s0VCWp1O8PWW_uAqWyx3DyLh-hOqbrWq-SZKDi_2L1pM68_D8vQH_aV662MIYiE/s320/sanders2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339193420383502050" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">William "Dave" Sanders, 47. </span><br /><br />Dave Sanders was a Columbine teacher for 25 years. He taught computer and business courses. He also coached the girls' basketball and softball teams. Dave was shot twice in the chest while directing students down the hallway to safety. He survived for at least three and a half hours. He left behind his wife, Linda, three daughters, and five grandchildren. He was a true hero on April 20, 1999. He stood in front of bullets to protect his students. While waiting for the SWAT teams to find him in a classroom, his students tried to stop the bleeding from his gun shot wounds. When they finally found him, Sanders had bled to death.<br /><br />I tried to contact Coach Sanders' daughter, Angela, several times to arrange an interview with her, but it didn't work out. She wrote a letter to him, which she read at his funeral. (To see an excerpt from the letter and to learn more about Dave Sanders, <a href="http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/0427sand4.shtml">read this article</a>)<br /><br />I also interviewed several teachers that had worked with Sanders at Columbine.<br /><br />Ivory Moore, an American History teacher at Columbine, a track and football coach, and close friend of Dave Sanders, told me the following: <br /><br />"Well, Dave was one of those teachers that started at Columbine about a year, two years after Columbine was opened and he spent all of his, ah, Jeff Co educational career at there. Since 74’, right. Yeah, so he was a mainstay. When you thought of Columbine, Dave Sanders was one of those individuals…he touched a lot of students, a lot of athletes ah, you know, throughout his career. He had an impact on a lot of teachers and a lot of other coaches at Columbine or, you know, more specifically, he's one of those individuals that brought me aboard that, you know, to have me be involved in the track program in 1988, when I first started teaching in the Columbine area. And, you know, our friendship, ah, just grew from there. He was a very open individual, very ah, positive as far as young people were concerned, you know, obviously a good teacher and a good person, a good friend. <br /><br />I don't know if I can even put in the words that describe, ah, our relationship because it was one that, you know, you didn't talk about, but you knew it was there. I knew that any time I, you know, had questions about anything, was concerned about anything, had conflicts with anything, I could go to Dave and ask Dave, especially as it related to track. You know, 'What do you think, what do you think Dave?' and he would lend his intimate wisdom. He would just come up with the response and come up with the answer and, ah, before you knew it made me feel good about, you know, decisions that we made as far as track and field and kids and those kinds of things. If you talked to any of the other coaches and/or teachers, they probably would have some similar kinds of things to say in regards to Dave. You know, really family oriented, he loved his grandchildren and I tell ya, there wasn't a time go by that he says, whoa, we gotta track meet, and as soon as the track meet was over on Saturday, he says, "I gotta go to get those grandchildren." And I says, 'Oh Dave, better you than me man.' And he says 'Oh, I don't mind, I don't mind, you know, we'll go, they'll jump all over me for a couple of hours, I'll wear them out and put them to bed and everything' ll be OK.' <br /><br />He was one of those individuals that, you know, once you meet, you never really forget. It’s one of those things that I will continue to try and do and steal some of those, ah, qualities and try and be as patient with young people as Dave has been, or as Dave was. It was good to have Dave around, as that model of humility and pride, especially as far as Columbine. I mean, he did everything: He coached. He coached track. He coached cross- country. He coached girls basketball, boys basketball. He coached softball, he, he coached baseball, he, ah, he coached football for a while. That's exactly right, it wasn't very much that Dave didn't do around Columbine."Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-26745663038258214362009-05-20T08:25:00.000-07:002009-05-23T18:07:26.791-07:00Reflections: April 20, 2009: Columbine, 10 years Later (Part 6)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Daniel Rohrbough (Continued)</span><br /><br />I interviewed Daniels's mother, Sue Petrone, and his step-father, Rich Petrone, at their home in Littleton. We spoke for about 3 hours. They were very gracious. Daniel was shot and killed on the sidewalk, outside the cafeteria outside at Columbine High School. He and Rachel Scott were the first two students killed on April 20, 1999. Sue and Rich have a beautiful garden behind their house. At their request, the school cleaned the piece of sidewalk on which Daniel died, and they brought it over to their house and set it up in the garden for them. Sue told me that there was a swing that Daniel had love to sit on in their yard. So, she and Rich had it suspended above the sidewalk. After our interview, she took me outside to see the swing and the sidewalk. It's her special place that gives her peace and makes her feel connected to her lost son. <br /><br />That was one of the most moving moments in all of my interview experiences. I'll never forget it. Sue tells the story of the swing in "A Line in the Sand". <br /><br />Here is an excerpt of my interview with Sue and Rich:<br /><br />Sue: Yeah, that's a hard thing to deal with. That's the one thing that I'm having a hard time dealing with. It's just that they left them there so long. You know, you're talking about our kids. Yeah, you couldn't go to them, and Danny was outside, so...<br /><br />Rich: Yeah, him and Rachel were outside for, geez, over 24 hours.<br /><br />Sue: They were probably dead by 11:30 on the 20th. Yeah, they were the first to die. Danny and Rachel were the first two that were shot...<br /><br />Rich: The way the investigators told it.<br /><br />Sue: Yeah, the way the investigators told us, Danny and Rachel were the first two that died. We don't know which one of them died first. We think it might have been Rachel, but I'm not sure, but they died before 11:30 on the 20th and they didn't take them away from the school. It was Wednesday afternoon about 2:00 or 3:00. So, they were outside over 24 hours, and it was just really hard. I mean that's the hardest thing that I still have been dealing with. It's like they just left them there, I mean, just like they were nothing. I have processed pretty much everything else, but that's the one thing left.<br /><br />Rich: Well and the thought that they left Danny on the sidewalk, and every time like something was about Columbine that they showed on t.v., kids running out of the school, and they're running right by his body and you see them tripping over him or stepping over him, and you know sometimes they don't show that and it sort of depends on the footage, but it's like, you know it's not their fault.<br /><br />Sue: Yeah, I mean we're not mad at the kids, it's not their fault. It's just that they should have moved them. They should have taken Danny and Rachel away because they were outside already.<br /><br />Rich: They pulled the other injured kids away, so why didn't they just pull them away with the injured and then, so the kids, you know then the kids that ran by them saw them...<br /><br />Sue: And they were hysterical.<br /><br />Rich: They were hysterical. They saw the kids laying there, Rachel and Danny dead, so they made the kids have to see that too. One day about a month or two months later Sue read a poem that some girl wrote about running by a little boy laying on the sidewalk with his blue eyes looking up at the sky. Remember that?<br /><br />Sue: Yeah, well his face was kind of blue.<br /><br />Rich:It was really like, I mean it just caught us off guard.<br /><br />Sue: It was in the newspaper.<br /><br />Rich: Yeah. <br /><br />Sue: It was like oh God...<br /><br />Rich: She's describing Danny.<br /><br />Sue: Danny, yeah, and it's like that's the one thing, it's like he went to school that morning so full of life and ambition and hope and dreams, you know just like everybody else has, and then the next time we finally got to see him was Saturday afternoon like at 4:00 in his casket. <br /><br />Well, I mean, they wouldn't let me see him. I mean, I wanted to go to the morgue, but they wouldn't let me see him there. They said wait until we release his body to, which is probably, from what I heard, because Lisa is a nurse, and she says you probably wouldn't have wanted to see him that way, but I still needed to. I mean, it would have been hard to process, because it's just like we tried to find him that whole day or that whole afternoon, and then we found out the next morning, when Rich saw his picture laying on the sidewalk. That was our confirmation that he was dead.<br /><br />Rich:That's how we found out he was dead.<br /><br />Sue: Yeah, around 4:00 that morning, we had gone over to Clement Park to go get him, and they said that we couldn't go near the school. It was like, well, but there are all kinds of media trucks in the park, but they denied us access to the same access the media had. It's like, all I wanted to do was be close, so that when word came if I could go there, that I was right there, but the sheriff's department escorted us all away. It just made me so angry that the news could be in the parking lot of the park, media from all over the world, but yet here I am, and this is my son, and there are pictures, and this is how I found out, but you're denying me the same access, because I don't have a media credential. I wrestle with that a lot. They had their reasons I guess, but I, I, I think it was uncalled for that they left the kids at that school for that long, really.Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-70989793061209951142009-05-12T07:22:00.000-07:002009-05-20T11:37:11.313-07:00Reflections: April 20, 2009: Columbine, 10 years Later (Part 5)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJCv2nWDWDucFzfvCGT53L0I6t1HziU_tfHVx6UFEeoJ8kyFNgEPZxrsVpIlrLss-Xl2APtRMlmQf4QIIs_3hVk4n0204JrWh8iVY0olD-3sSXWVLaCXPqvL_yIWFXNP_LbODAPST9CGQ/s1600-h/dannyr2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 86px; height: 86px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJCv2nWDWDucFzfvCGT53L0I6t1HziU_tfHVx6UFEeoJ8kyFNgEPZxrsVpIlrLss-Xl2APtRMlmQf4QIIs_3hVk4n0204JrWh8iVY0olD-3sSXWVLaCXPqvL_yIWFXNP_LbODAPST9CGQ/s320/dannyr2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334943927918954338" /></a><br /><br />Daniel Rohrbough, 15<br /><br />I interviewed Daniel's father, Brian, on two separate occasions. Once at my hotel in Denver and a second time at his electronics shop. Brian was very angry about his son's death. He felt the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department had failed on April 20, 1999. According to him, they handled the situation very poorly, and they could have saved the lives of many of the victims if they had acted sooner and more effectively. Brian later filed a lawsuit against the JeffCo Sheriff's Department, based on the accounts of two witnesses, which claimed that a deputy had fired the fatal shot that killed Daniel, instead of Dylan Klebold. Daniel was one of the first students killed, outside the school. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed in court. Brian, along with several other families, filed a another lawsuit against The Klebolds and The Harisses for negligence. They were required to give depositions to the court, which have never been released. The victims' families received a settlement from both The Harrises and The Klebolds. <br /><br />Brian told me that the shootings could have been prevented. There were many warning signs, including Eric and Dylan's arrest for breaking into a van and stealing electronics equipment a little over a year before the Columbine massacre. Brian also said that Randy and Judy Brown, parents of Columbine student Brooks Brown, had reported to the Sheriff's Department that Eric Harris had made death threats against Brooks, but the Sheriff never contacted Eric's parents to tell them about it.<br /><br />Daniel was Brian's only child. They were very close. I asked Brian to tell me about his son:<br /><br />"Well, the electronics, he loved to do home theater and car audio, and in his room he's got a very elaborate system based on car audio components and stuff that was going to go in his first car, and he had it all drawn up and laid out. We were going to restore an old pickup that my grandfather had for him to drive, and that's what he wanted. He wanted that. Not a newer car, you know, it's an old, basic pick-up, but that's what he wanted because of the history. And he loved the family farm and those were his interests, and he really wanted to work with me and actually had been for quite a while. He also liked computers. The design stuff is what he really liked, drawing it out, setting it up." <br /><br />Then I asked Brian to tell me a favorite memory he has of Daniel:<br /><br />"Um, you know, I'm fortunate because, um, all I have are good memories and things that are great, and a lot of people don't have that with their kids. You know, he worked with me. He used to tell his mom, ‘Why do I have to go to school? I'm just going to work with dad?’ He was like, ‘What do I need this for?’ Obviously, we all wish we had agreed with him, you know, but in any event we had a very interesting relationship. One of the little things was that we had fun. We're both practical jokers, and so one of the things I miss the most is I hate grocery shopping, and he hated to go with me. I mean, we all hated the thought of going, but we had fun when we got in the stores.<br /><br />One of the things we did was in the paper products aisle. Everything is stacked real high, and I'd grab a roll of paper towels, and he'd look around the corner and see if there was anyone there, and then he'd go out for a pass, and I'd launch the paper towels over the aisle, and he'd run out to catch them. And every now and again, you know, he'd miss completely or knock stuff over or, you know, just catch it in front of someone coming around the corner, who would be horrified that we were doing it and throwing it, and there would be people who came up behind me, and I'd have to catch it and keep it from hitting them. You know, we had fun with that, and I really miss that. I used to tell him, ‘You know the people in security are just rolling right now watching us do this.’ So, the paper towels are one of the things I miss the most.<br /><br />Another thing we did is…when he was just a little guy, they had little grocery carts. They had a big flag, yeah, and one time I went and got him one of these, and he was going just as fast as he could. He got to the end of the aisle, and he tried to turn, and the cart went just right out and knocked everything out onto the floor. He was laughing, and I was laughing, and I walked down to the end of the aisle, and there was this lady with such a sour face and so disgusted. We both looked at her and laughed even harder. You know, and it was like, if you can't have fun with your kids, you know, there's something wrong with ya, because kids are too much of a treasure. <br /><br />So, yeah, I had 15 great years. How any parent could ask for more, want more yes, but ask for more, I can't imagine." <br /><br /><br />I also interviewed Sue Petrone, Daniel's mother, and Rich Petrone, Daniel's step-father.<br />(see next blog entry)Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-53745212624970089402009-05-06T07:30:00.000-07:002009-05-11T13:36:58.805-07:00Reflections: April 20, 2009: Columbine, 10 years Later (Part 4)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU1QWiEqI_zYYI1CwJpZdZT-DwXHrkDQ79gNcyFu8iDtG_9UAllDvZvaKMaFEd1pJKvD2gnOAWHLNz6_rjvY1TgcvyloHuEeMtf4hAnoCq5SXuDvQR34Nj4xZNEySlCmHm_P5tUYU6lyA/s1600-h/danielm2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 82px; height: 87px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU1QWiEqI_zYYI1CwJpZdZT-DwXHrkDQ79gNcyFu8iDtG_9UAllDvZvaKMaFEd1pJKvD2gnOAWHLNz6_rjvY1TgcvyloHuEeMtf4hAnoCq5SXuDvQR34Nj4xZNEySlCmHm_P5tUYU6lyA/s320/danielm2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332727014254417266" /></a><br /><br /><br />Daniel Mauser, 15<br /><br />On their <a href="http://www.danielmauser.com">website</a> that celebrates his life, the Mausers describe their son: <br /><br />"He was a gentle, well mannered, mature, lovable child. He was not at all reluctant to hug his parents, even as a teen--he did it often. Daniel was a tenth grader at Columbine. He was shy and reserved, not someone who'd want to speak in front of an audience, yet he joined the debate team. Daniel was a slender 5'10" and not athletic, yet he joined the cross country team at school. He had a dry sense of humor." <br /><br />Daniel was shot and killed in the library at Columbine. Crystal Woodman and Lindsay Elmore, who were both in the library under tables near Daniel and survived, told me about how he was brutally murdered. These accounts are in my play, "A Line in the Sand".<br /><br />I interviewed, Daniel's father, Tom, on two different occasions. First in the fall of 1999, and then again in the spring of 2000. He had taken a leave of absence from his job for a year to fight for better gun control laws. You can read about it on his website for Daniel. (see link above)<br /><br />Here is an excerpt from one of our interviews:<br /><br />"My role is as a victim, in speaking to people and trying to personalize this issue and say, 'This is what happens, I’m gonna humanize this and make it real clear. This could’ve been you. This could’ve been you. This could’ve been <span style="font-style:italic;">you</span> as a parent.' It happened to be me, and people need to take action on that.<br /><br />My role is not to argue with the gun rights activist, cause I’ll never change his mind, and I’ll never be able to answer all his questions and all his challenges. My role is to say we can’t settle for the status quo. We have to have a change, in our attitudes, and also we have to address the violence that’s in our movies, in our video games, that, uh, is in our schools. We have to change things. If we just accept the status quo, then Columbine won’t be the last—it’s gonna happen again. Oh, <span style="font-style:italic;">of course</span> it is. There’s nothing we’re doing to really address it. I don’t want to see that. I’m not wishing it, but it’s going to happen again. They said it wouldn’t after Paducah, after Pearl, after Jonesboro. So, it’s probably going to happen again. It’s a question of when and how bad it’s going to be. It’s gonna take awhile for this country to turn this thing around, to really address it; because we’re not <span style="font-style:italic;">really </span>doing anything. I mean certainly the schools are starting to take more note and trying to do something, but it’s not gonna be in the schools, it’s gonna be in the families, you know. <br /><br />As much as I speak for gun control, I’m not arguing that gun control is gonna stop this. It’s just the elements of violence. We are not addressing the elements of violence and what leads to violence…and because we can't do it, because it’s so deep rooted, the one thing you <span style="font-style:italic;">can</span> do is address the tools of violence. There is no guarantee that we’re going to be able to change the minds and hearts in a short enough time period to protect ourselves well; and since we can’t, then we have to at least <span style="font-style:italic;">somehow</span> address the tools. Both in terms of putting background checks in, de-glorifying guns, and then taking some of the environmental things that tend to numb us and teach us that it’s okay to have and use a gun. At least <span style="font-style:italic;">try</span> to address those. Yeah, elimination of the tools won’t happen, but at least reducing them and addressing them in a different kind of way will at least help." <br /><br /><br /><br />,Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-69920281931530761152009-05-03T18:58:00.001-07:002009-05-06T07:30:18.313-07:00Reflections: April 20, 2009: Columbine, 10 years Later (Part 3)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilqGATkYsHpXm4qoz-rZrg_0TzuhA1cKWUqDF6xJnNVnADgAmlC2vaeDzezZaVpeY74a7l7rLD-dNnk7voDTWqrCDVwSSD40r-mV08-LBh9IU1ZdJ01kf5XiQBCRn0NLTBkHIrQw0NS5U/s1600-h/steve2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 81px; height: 86px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilqGATkYsHpXm4qoz-rZrg_0TzuhA1cKWUqDF6xJnNVnADgAmlC2vaeDzezZaVpeY74a7l7rLD-dNnk7voDTWqrCDVwSSD40r-mV08-LBh9IU1ZdJ01kf5XiQBCRn0NLTBkHIrQw0NS5U/s320/steve2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331782599594671330" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Steven Curnow, 14<br /></span><br /><br />Steven was a freshman at Columbine. He dreamed of being a Navy top gun and piloting an F-16. He watched "Star Wars" movies so often he could recite dialogue. Steven played soccer as a boy, and he learned to referee to earn pocket money. <br /><br /><a href="http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/0429stev5.shtml">Learn more about Steven....<br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgSeTcHyREetl8SAt5BuKypifVA2J3HQGdHZEITULDxuK0kVKLtC7olgC1EhICUr9vdS9dSihj9Q0s9tH0XYxYzyB1GUlfueueuhySuifVSurudYYrVpBg6eKEMzRt3mzbIBmZ1w62aM/s1600-h/corey2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 98px; height: 85px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgSeTcHyREetl8SAt5BuKypifVA2J3HQGdHZEITULDxuK0kVKLtC7olgC1EhICUr9vdS9dSihj9Q0s9tH0XYxYzyB1GUlfueueuhySuifVSurudYYrVpBg6eKEMzRt3mzbIBmZ1w62aM/s320/corey2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331783533709609266" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Corey Depooter, 17</span><br /><br />Corey loved to golf, hunt, and fish. He was a former wrestler. Corey had taken maintenance job at a golf club to save up for a boat with a friend. He was a good student.<br /><br /><a href="http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/0428core5.shtml">Learn more about Corey...</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvB-2Eta3fmBqLp63r5lgBLn-atX3kEq8OOnxWugwBmE_ykAgtoZi4jDkKn8pKgU0GZE3JYFVHwGkuj6z_aGArkRHCLCp3g8WMCZwEdqNQtn0X_Z-5zAPh4thF02Dw4wL9X8pTIPfmC8/s1600-h/kelly2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 90px; height: 86px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvB-2Eta3fmBqLp63r5lgBLn-atX3kEq8OOnxWugwBmE_ykAgtoZi4jDkKn8pKgU0GZE3JYFVHwGkuj6z_aGArkRHCLCp3g8WMCZwEdqNQtn0X_Z-5zAPh4thF02Dw4wL9X8pTIPfmC8/s320/kelly2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332535671977348466" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Kelly Fleming, 16<br /></span><br />Kelly was an aspiring songwriter and author. She wrote scores of poems and short stories based on her life experiences. Kelly was learning to play guitar. She had recently moved from Phoenix, and she was eager to get her driver's license and part-time job.<br /><br /><a href="http://web.dailycamera.com/shooting/fleming.html">Learn more about Kelly...</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijGS7sutDKngTFTg9ZQolSiv1tbavW88cPgNk97owgWe84pnX51zMqDuifyG5NxfO9199NjepqMApD9RzlpVH6Zwx-ojJtUE9vBsbAjNpmGxaW1CdPnNnMWEPpS2hpdiD5bJQJJVzOWkQ/s1600-h/matt2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 85px; height: 86px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijGS7sutDKngTFTg9ZQolSiv1tbavW88cPgNk97owgWe84pnX51zMqDuifyG5NxfO9199NjepqMApD9RzlpVH6Zwx-ojJtUE9vBsbAjNpmGxaW1CdPnNnMWEPpS2hpdiD5bJQJJVzOWkQ/s320/matt2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332536387462824162" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Matthew Kechter, 16</span><br /><br />Matt had hoped to start for the football team. He lifted weights. He was an excellent student with an A average. Matt was planning on studying engineering in college. Kechter's Columbine High School football teammates wore ribbons bearing his old jersey number, 70, at his funeral service. They dedicated the next season to his memory. Eight months later, in December of 1999, with Matt's number 70 emblazoned on their helmets, the <a href="http://airwolf.lmtonline.com/news/archive/1205/pagea6.pdf">Columbine Rebels won their first state championship</a>.<br /><br /><br />Please go to the next post to read about the other Columbine victims...Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-44885206633833156202009-04-22T19:26:00.000-07:002009-05-06T08:19:27.428-07:00Reflections: April 20, 2009: Columbine, 10 years Later (Part 2)Here is a little bit about the lives of the 13 victims. I interviewed some of their parents, most of whom had already done many interviews with the media. <br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd_xibS6RnFrxK42S6W5xHnw3OlkhixnzO_6zboPHI3kY8VrtlK6is8OI01IES1N-Tm7_xxDCjmtrBgWg0zf38ZKduOjgFZGYNX84UHMwGueqAuRBtIeugfYtQfCtKB9gfXaWPXIZq6jI/s1600-h/cassie2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 83px; height: 85px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd_xibS6RnFrxK42S6W5xHnw3OlkhixnzO_6zboPHI3kY8VrtlK6is8OI01IES1N-Tm7_xxDCjmtrBgWg0zf38ZKduOjgFZGYNX84UHMwGueqAuRBtIeugfYtQfCtKB9gfXaWPXIZq6jI/s320/cassie2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327707843136053890" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Cassie Bernall, 17</span><br /><br />Active in church youth programs and Bible study groups. She was a member of West Bowles Community Church in Littleton. I interviewed the pastor there, Dave McPherson, and Cassie's father, Brad Bernall. Both men told me the story of Cassie's redemption. She was going down a very dark path, similar to that of the killers, and the her experience on a particular church youth group trip saved her. She found her faith in Christ, and became the happy, loving girl that was murdered in the library.<br /><br />The Bernalls have written a book about Cassie's transformation called "She Said Yes." Accounts from students in the library said that one of the killers asked her if she believed in God. She said,"Yes", and they shot her in the head. This was disputed later in the official Columbine report. Other witnesses said it was injured survivor Valeen Schnurr who had said it. It was later reported that several students in the library were asked the question.<br /><br />Here is an excerpt from my inteview with Brad Bernall in 1999. I spoke to him at West Bowles Community Church, the place that had changed Cassie's life:<br /><br />"They released her to the funeral home and that was, uh, that was the first time we got to...See I'd called the funeral home and, um, you know, just told them that we needed to see Cassie. I said, you know, don't bother doing anything to her, you know, clean her up a little and then call us as soon as you can. Just do the very minimum so we can get over there and, and see her. And they did. And we, we finally got over the funeral home probably, it was after dark so it was probably about 8:00 or 8:30, and they led us to a room where, where Cassie was on a little gurney and, uh, they had washed her hair and put a towel over her hair, and she was just covered with a sheet. Um, and it was, she looked, she looked good. I expected, I expected the worst, you know, since she'd taken a shotgun shot to the head I expected just something awful. But it wasn't. Her face was intact and, um, she even had good skin color. I was so surprised. She looked good. But it's...I wanted to hold her and kiss her, and I did because it was so hard mostly because she was cold. She had been in a refrigerator and her body was so cold. Um, Misty came in, um, and touched her foot, her foot was sticking out, and when she felt the coldness of her foot she just dropped, right there, down to the floor. Just broke down and lost it, you know. It was difficult for both of us, but it was something we had to do. And the next few days we did as much as we could, um...I've always been a hands-on dad. I wanted to make sure that I was, I closed the coffin, I cut the locks of her hair off her head, um, did all that sort of thing. Misty and I both said our goodbyes at the funeral home like the day before the funeral, closed the lid, and that was, that was the last time we saw her. "<br /><br />To learn more about Cassie's life and "She Said Yes", please go to the Bernall's website: <a href="http://www.cassierenebernall.org">www.cassierenebernall.org</a><br /><br /><br /><br />Please go to the next post to read more about the Columbine victims.Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-39989522760483145812009-04-20T14:46:00.000-07:002009-04-20T18:20:42.339-07:00Reflections: April 20, 2009: Columbine, 10 years Later (Part 1)10 years ago today, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed 12 classmates and a teacher, before killing themselves, at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. 23 others were wounded.<br /><br />It was one of the saddest days in recent U.S. history. <br /><br />It forever marked a community and a nation. <br /><br />And it changed the direction of my life. <br /><br />I am grateful to all the members of the Columbine community who chose to speak with me in 1999-2000, especially the parents of the victims and the Columbine students, the survivors.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Today, let us remember the victims:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Cassie Bernall (age 17)<br /><br />Steven Curnow (age 14)<br /><br />Corey Depooter (age 17)<br /><br />Kelley Fleming (age 16)<br /><br />Matthew Kechter (age 16)<br /><br />Daniel Mauser (age 15)<br /><br />Daniel Rohrbough (age 15)<br /><br />Rachel Scott (age 17)<br /><br />Isaiah Shoels (age 18)<br /><br />John Tomlin (age 16)<br /><br />Lauren Townsend (age 18)<br /><br />Kyle Velasquez (age 16)<br /><br />William “Dave” Sanders (age 47)<br /></span><br /><br />R.I.P. We are all Columbine.<br /><br /><br />see this great article and others on <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/columbine/ci_12183773">www.denverpost.com</a><br /><br />more to come.....Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988203960529974412.post-31429855058069136362009-04-19T13:59:00.000-07:002009-04-20T18:26:17.122-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdZ6GL9AoKtw20SzUBDqnEUJvYxPopHJmydabkFmdGuvXTmY-A4kqlZN6M1K1w6JaqQjpeRliX9OyJy7oWRxb1Zk8AT1pbGCV_pNiaNE2AfU08CXdvwWuDtPXsRlh731Ez52Z0jLE5MA/s1600-h/DSC_0002.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 248px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdZ6GL9AoKtw20SzUBDqnEUJvYxPopHJmydabkFmdGuvXTmY-A4kqlZN6M1K1w6JaqQjpeRliX9OyJy7oWRxb1Zk8AT1pbGCV_pNiaNE2AfU08CXdvwWuDtPXsRlh731Ez52Z0jLE5MA/s320/DSC_0002.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326517156635822034" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2JGxBj8QGucu5Ktju4-D_zrz0omv1baD2G_bW2XSUX3qlwXE3mznpFXPM2mQJsZM4Q92BsP5RHbPb9kB1KvY7tPMxnBKILRPG-m7-LNPWLNfnt-3FxAEeWe1nC3jv_LcDcR5SIUNY3Bw/s1600-h/DSC_0014.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2JGxBj8QGucu5Ktju4-D_zrz0omv1baD2G_bW2XSUX3qlwXE3mznpFXPM2mQJsZM4Q92BsP5RHbPb9kB1KvY7tPMxnBKILRPG-m7-LNPWLNfnt-3FxAEeWe1nC3jv_LcDcR5SIUNY3Bw/s320/DSC_0014.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326517152445266578" /></a><br />Here's a few more photos from the "lie-in". <br /><br />Tomorrow, is the 10th anniversary of Columbine. I can't believe it's been 10 years. I never thought when I was doing my interviews back in 1999, that 10 years later I would still be performing my play, and sadly, <span style="font-style:italic;">needing</span> to perform it, because very little has changed since then.<br /><br />I did a run through rehearsal today for a performance I'm doing at City College on the 29th. It felt good to step inside the characters again, but it was also said think about what they went through. I hope they are in a much better place today.<br /><br />Tonight, in Clement Park in Denver, at the Columbine Memorial, there will be a candlelight vigil for the victims and their families. <a href="http://photos.denverpost.com/photoprojects/galleries/video.html?bcpid=1504364485&bclid=1419798684&bctid=20179685001">see video.</a><br /><br />My thoughts and prayers are with them.Adinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910505194082261667noreply@blogger.com0