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Topics - Ursus

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31
Psych Hospitals / UHS, Inc. acquires Psychiatric Solutions, Inc.
« on: September 22, 2011, 06:46:15 PM »
One huge rapacious acute care hospital and behavioral/mental health care provider gobbles up another huge rapacious behavioral/mental health care provider.

It's hard to say whose track record is worse. Both have histories littered with the wreckage of damaged and prematurely ended lives, due in part to a shortsighted and perhaps unwise budgeting philosophy. Ambitions of achieving knock-yer-socks-off Quarterly Statements would appear to be held... a little too dear.

Will life continue to be binnis as usual, at the requisite hellholes thus affected? Or will we see some changes, hopefully for the better?

Whadiya think? Hmmm?  . . . :twofinger:

32
Open Free for All / Man sold tobacco to boys after letting him spank them
« on: September 19, 2011, 11:40:18 AM »
Geez, Louise! :D My Gawd, there are some nutcases running loose in this world!

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

The Post and Courier
Cops: Man sold tobacco to boys after letting him spank them

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

LEXINGTON — Lexington County deputies say they arrested a 50-year-old convenience store clerk who sold cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to boys after they let him spank them.

Deputies said Tuesday that they started investigating Terrence Bryant after the father of a 12-year-old boy found him with a pack of Newport cigarettes earlier this month.

Detectives say Bryant sold the boy cigarettes at least five times from his pickup truck, spanking the child in the parking lot over his clothes.

Deputies say Bryant also sold tobacco to two 15-year-old boys after spanking them.

Bryant is charged with three counts of lewd act upon a child under age 16. He is awaiting a bond hearing at the Lexington County jail and deputies say he doesn’t have an attorney yet.


Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

33
News Items / Boy Scouts sued over sexual abuse in Montana
« on: September 16, 2011, 05:07:26 PM »
KULR-8
Boy Scouts sued over sexual abuse in Montana

Story Published: Sep 7, 2011 at 3:00 PM MDT
Story Updated: Sep 7, 2011 at 3:00 PM MDT


HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Five women say the Boy Scouts should be held responsible for a scout leader who sexually abused them decades ago in a co-ed children's program.

They are suing the Boy Scouts of America and the scouts' Montana Council, saying the organization failed to properly oversee William H. Leininger Jr. when he headed Kalispell's Explorer Scouts program in the early 1970s.

Leininger was convicted of the girls' abuse in 1976 and again in a separate abuse case in 1982. He died in 2002 at age 80.

The women, now in their 50s, filed their lawsuit Wednesday in Cascade County District Court. They say Leininger repeatedly abused them while demonstrating how to change bandages during first-aid training.

Montana Council director Gordon Rubard says he can't comment on the specifics of the case.


KULR-8 Television, 2045 Overland Avenue, Billings, MT, 59102

34
Public Sector Gulags / Guided Group Interaction (GGI)
« on: September 13, 2011, 10:41:04 AM »
Guided Group Interaction (GGI) is the direct predecessor to Positive Peer Culture (PPC), a TC-like modality used, in one form or another, in many if not most programs found on fornits.

To my knowledge, GGI was first formulated in the early 1940s, primarily by Lloyd W. McCorkle, as a behavior modification tool in "rehabilitating" military prisoners at the Fort Knox Barracks in Kentucky.

The intent was not rehabilitation which addressed the needs of the individuals in question, although I'm sure some such gains were made. Rather, the form of group therapy then known as GGI was expressly for the purpose of returning these soldiers to the arena of war.

35
Facility Question and Answers / HABILITAT (Therapeutic Community)
« on: September 03, 2011, 10:23:16 AM »
This place recently resumed accepting adolescents:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

New Perspectives
Posted: Aug 1, 2011, 07:45


HABILITAT

Kaneohe, HI
B. Blankenfeld
Admissions Director
808-235-3691
http://www.habilitat.com


Founded by Vincent Marino in 1971, Habilitat is a long term residential substance abuse treatment center for adults 18 and over that are struggling with addictions to drugs and alcohol. Built on the Therapeutic Community Model, Habilitat has just celebrated its 40th anniversary and has grown from a small home with 8 residents to a sprawling residence that can accommodate 200 residents on an acre and a half at the base of the Ko'alau Mountains on the island of Oahu, on the coast of Käne'ohe Bay.

Vinny Marino, Habilitat's founder, grew up in New York's "Little Italy" as a teenage street punk on heroin. After battling his own addictions and street behaviors, Marino was committed to addressing and helping those with substance abuse addictions. Daniel Katada is the Executive Director at Habilitat, Jeff Nash holds the Program Director position and B. Blankenfeld is the Admissions Director. Habilitat is licensed by the State of Hawaii and recently received a Commendation from the Governor of Hawaii for the contributions to the health and wellness of the community.

Habilitat, also known as "The School of Survival" is a 27 month program, offering its residents a three part phase program that includes the treatment phase, re-entry phase and post-re-entry phase. Phase one is well monitored by staff and senior residents, phase two gets residents involved in their diverse vocational training programs that include food service, medical administration, admissions, facility management, plumbing and other technical and maintenance offerings just to name a few. Habilitat is operated by residents except for the clinical department. Each day on campus starts the same…morning meeting with all the residents, seminar (which includes speaker meetings, 12 steps work, pro and con debates in addition to recreational activities) and the encounter group, or rap session, with peers and staff, where residents openly discuss issues relating to day to day encounters, fears, insecurities and what changes the resident still needs to work on. Direction and guidance is given by the group and staff on what to work on and solutions to their problems.

Exercise is mandatory for residents and Habilitat has a fully equipped gym and aerobics studio. They also offer a wide variety of sports and activities including sailing, hiking, fishing and team sports such as volleyball and bicycling. Residents participate in all aspects of Habilitat's annual luau and benefit concert and their annual Christmas Tree Project for the community, with all proceeds going back into the maintenance and running of the facility.

[This information came from the Habilitat website and brochure.]


Copyright © 2010, Woodbury Reports, Inc.

36
The Post-Standard
Oswego County BOCES closes time-out rooms after mother's complaint

Published: Wednesday, June 22, 2011, 4:11 PM · Updated: Thursday, June 23, 2011, 6:41 AM
By Debra J. Groom / The Post-Standard



The inside of the time-out room at the Oswego County BOCES site in Fulton. Fulton Police

Fulton, NY -- Oswego County BOCES permanently has closed all of its time-out rooms following a mother’s complaint to the state Education Department.

The rooms have been used for children who become disruptive and could hurt themselves or others. The mother complained her daughter was in a timeout room she believes was dangerous at the BOCES site at the Fulton Education Center.

Superintendent Joseph Camerino said BOCES officials are working on a new policy on how to deal with disruptive students. The time-out rooms at the Mexico BOCES campus and the Fulton Education Center BOCES site were used for such students.

BOCES had planned to close the rooms anyway, because of the upcoming construction project, Camerino said.

James DeLorenzo, state coordinator for special education for the state Education Department, said BOCES also is beginning extensive training for all staff on “behavioral interventions.”

“BOCES has been very cooperative and very receptive,” he said. “Our staff at the regional office has put a lot of effort into this and met many times with BOCES officials."

Wendi Starusnak, of Phoenix, complained to the state Education Department after she was called to the BOCES site in Fulton to pick up her daughter, Jenna Lewis, 9, who had been placed in the time-out room.

She believes bruises found on her daughter’s body were the result of thrashing about in the 3-by-4 foot room, which she said had hard walls and floors and dangerous protruding objects on the walls.

“Closing them permanently is a very good idea,” Starusnak said. “I’m pleased that no more children will be subjected to hours and hours in those rooms. That was my goal.”

A state Education Department representative reviewed the room in May and in June.

Starusnak provided a copy of a report she said she received from the state Education Department, dated June 14. In it the department’s regional associate Karen Howard says “the Oswego BOCES failed to follow regulations pertaining to the use of time out rooms. .¤.¤. In addition, Oswego BOCES used space that was not in compliance with regulatory requirements and failed to provide adequate training to staff on the use of time out rooms.”

The report says BOCES violated regulations by using emergency interventions for regular behavioral problems and failed to provide appropriate training in safe and effective restraint procedures to staff.

During its review, the state Education Department found BOCES did not provide a way for teachers to see or hear the student in the time-out room. The officials also said the room at the Fulton Education Center was too small for a student to move about and recline comfortably, contained potentially dangerous objects and fixtures — such as small protruding pipes — and lacked adequate lighting, floor and wall coverings.

Wednesday, a state spokesman would not immediately confirm the report Starusnak provided is from the state Education Department. The spokesman did confirm Howard works for the department.

Starusnak said she had no problem when her daughter, who has special needs, was placed in the time-out at her former school, Michael Maroun Elementary in the Phoenix school district.

That room was “the size of a small office and it was padded with gym mats and was well lit. The door had a window. The assistant principal would sit in the room with Jenna with a pillow in her lap so Jenna couldn’t injure her.”

Jenna began classes at BOCES’ Fulton Site on Fourth Street March 9 after officials at Maroun said she needed more help. A week later, Starusnak said she found bruises on Jenna’s body.

Jenna is now home-schooled and doing well, her mother said.


Contact Debra J. Groom at [email protected], 470-3254 or 251-5586.


© 2010 Syracuse Online LLC.

37
News Items / Grove School in Madison hit with second lawsuit
« on: August 21, 2011, 12:18:26 PM »
New Haven Register

Grove School in Madison hit with second lawsuit

Published: Tuesday, July 05, 2011
By Alexandra Sanders, Register Staff
[email protected] / Twitter: @asanders88


MADISON — In the wake of a lawsuit claiming that the staff at the Grove School used improper restraint procedures, another suit has been filed alleging negligence in its policies and practices after a student was allegedly sexually assaulted.

According to the lawsuit filed last month, the alleged victim of the sexual assault, a 16-year-old resident of New York, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and oppositional defiant disorder and was hospitalized six times prior to her enrollment at the private therapeutic boarding school.

The girl, who was supposed to be under constant supervision except for the time spent in her bedroom and bathroom, left her third-period art class June 21, 2010, after Brendan Moretti, then a 16-year-old student, passed her a note that told her to meet him after class in the main office restroom across campus, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that no one noticed that she left class and did not show up on time for her fourth-period class.

On her way to the restroom, the girl crossed school grounds and walked past two staff members who were permanently stationed at the entrance to the main office building.

CEO and President of the School Richard Chorney said that the two people are secretaries who likely assumed that she was going to therapy because the therapists are upstairs in that building.

“She wasn’t stopped because she was going to the bathroom like any high school student in America,” said attorney David Hill, who is representing the school. “Students are allowed to use the bathroom between periods, but they are not allowed to use the bathroom to have consensual sex.”

Moretti, at 6 feet tall, walked into the restroom a few minutes after she did and, according to the lawsuit, told her to “take off her clothes and shut up”; when she resisted, he allegedly said that she would be punished by the school if he told on her.

After the alleged sexual assault, the state Department of Children and Families required the school to replace the internal lock on the restroom door with a key lock outside.

The lawsuit states that the following day, the girl told her roommate about the incident, who urged her to tell her therapist, after saying that a former roommate had also been sexually assaulted by Moretti.

Chorney said the previous alleged assault was not reported and the first he heard anything of it was when he received the lawsuit.

“It’s a frivolous claim,” said Hill. “Two teens snuck away to have consensual sex and somehow the family claims monetary damages.”

The lawsuit states that the incident was a violation of the girl’s rights under Title IX as she is a female, and therefore a member of the group that Title IX protects.

Chorney said that the school has a sexual harassment policy that calls for police and DCF to be notified, and if the school has any concerns, it can suspend the student, which it did.

Moretti is now enrolled in a program in another state, according to Chorney.

On Aug. 17, 2010, Moretti was arrested by police, and according to the state judicial website, he was charged with six felonies, including sexual assault in the first degree, sexual assault in the second degree, two counts of third-degree assault, risk of injury to a child and unlawful restraint in the first degree.

The Register does not publish names of sexual assault victims or minors, but Moretti is being tried as an adult.

The lawsuit also states that after the girl was removed from school, the school published a yearbook with her photo in it without her mother’s consent, representing that she was a student at the school, although she was pulled out “on an emergency basis.”

“Conventionally, parents are required to sign releases for a photograph image reproduction of their children and my client didn’t sign anything like that,” said the girl’s mother’s attorney, Rachel Asher of New York.

Asher’s clients are seeking compensatory damages not to exceed $75,000 for physical and emotional harm.

“There is a general concern that this is a school that is holding itself out as a therapeutic school and not behaving in manner that is therapeutically attuned to the population,” said Asher.

This is the second lawsuit that brought that concern to light. A lawsuit was filed last winter by a Rhode Island man, known as John Doe to protect his identity, after he claimed the school used improper restraint procedures during an altercation.

Doe was arrested in 2008 on a charge of third-degree assault after staff at the school tried to restrain him. The charge has since been dismissed, but according to the lawsuit, he is suing the school after sustaining multiple injuries.

In April, Chorney made the claim as part of his reply brief to that suit that the incident was actually medical malpractice action and should be dismissed.

Diane Polan, attorney for Doe, noted that the school is licensed as a residential education center by DCF, not a “residential treatment center” or a “mental health residential living center,” which she said undermines the argument that it should be treated as a health care facility.

That lawsuit is pending.

Call Alexandra Sanders at 203-789-5714. Follow her on Twitter @asanders88. To receive breaking news first — simply text the word nhnews to 22700. Standard msg+data rates may apply.


© Copyright 2011 New Haven Register, a Journal Register Property & part of Journal Register CT

38
Public Sector Gulags / NISD officer shoots and kills teen after chase
« on: August 19, 2011, 11:39:08 AM »
NEWS 4 WOAI
NISD officer shoots and kills teen after chase

Published: 11/12/2010 5:24 pm
Updated: 11/13/2010 5:53 pm



(News 4 WOAI)

SAN ANTONIO -- A teenager was shot and killed by a Northside Independent School District police officer on the Far West Side Friday afternoon.

The shooting happened around 4:30 p.m. in the 200 block of Roswell Canyon, off of Hunt Lane and Potranco Road. A NISD spokesperson said the officer told investigators he was patrolling the neighborhood and witnessed a fight between the teenager and a NISD student. The teenager took off on foot, and the officer began chasing him through the neighborhood.

During the chase, a homeowner came out of his house, waived down the officer, and told him he believed the teenager was hiding inside his shed in his backyard. As the officer approached the shed, he and the teenager got into a struggle, and the teenager was shot.

Police are still investigating, but officials said it appears the teenager "came at" the officer. It's not yet clear if the teenager had any sort of weapon.

NISD officials did not release the teen's name but said he was an 8th grade student at the Bexar County Juvenile Justice School. The boy had attended Pease Middle School, just down the street from where the shooting happened, but had recently been expelled.

The officer, who NISD officials described as a "veteran officer," suffered a cut on his lip and a knee injury. He has been placed on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation.


© 2010 Newport Television LLC

39
News Items / Man sues Grove School over injuries
« on: August 15, 2011, 03:29:21 PM »
New Haven Register

Man sues Grove School over injuries

Published: Monday, January 17, 2011
By Alexandra Sanders, Register Staff
[email protected]


MADISON — A Rhode Island man has filed a lawsuit, alleging the Grove School used improper restraint procedures during an altercation.

The man, identified as John Doe to protect his identity, was arrested in September 2008 on a third-degree assault charge after staff at the private therapeutic boarding school for adolescents with emotional and social problems, tried to restrain him. The charge has since been dismissed, but now the lawsuit says he is suing the school after sustaining multiple injuries, including a black eye, ruptured blood vessels, a bloody nose and bruises on his face and arms.

"He was there because they supposedly knew how to take care of him," Doe's attorney, Diane Polan of New Haven, said recently. "Kids admitted (to the Grove School) are not supposed to end up looking the way my client looked."

On Friday, Grove School Director Richard Chorney would not specify the restraint procedures used in the school.

"People are obviously trained as they would be in every hospital or school," said Chorney. "It is not something we have very much of at all, if and when it does happen. I believe that anything that is developed is going to end up being spurious."

According to the lawsuit, prior to 2008, when Doe, 19, began attending the Grove School, he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and attention deficit disorder, and had been hospitalized three times for treatment of those issues. Doe had not attended school for six months before he enrolled at the Grove School and, during that time, he had expressed suicidal thoughts.

His parents had given the Grove School staff paperwork detailing his mental illness and behavioral issues and noted in a "Special Procedures" section that he "needs space to decompress" and he is "very fragile."

Copies of the information were given to two of three staff members listed in the lawsuit, Sean Kursawe, the assistant principal; and Robert Burgett, a teacher and part of the Residential Behavioral Management program. Andrew Pollack, associate director of the school, was not given the information, according to the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, during the first 10 days of Doe's residence at the school, he had nine altercations with students and staff, he threatened to kill himself and run away from school, he cut his arms and he told the staff he was "stressed and overwhelmed."

Around the 10th day, Doe became agitated, called his parents and asked them to pick him up, while he was packing his bags. Kursawe heard Doe on the phone with his mother threatening to kill himself if she did not pick him up and Kursawe said he would call the police if Doe left the school, which prompted him to lock himself in the bathroom, according to the lawsuit.

"They are supposed to de-escalate the situation, not escalate it," said Polan. "The school holds itself out as saying that this is what their employees are trained to do. Every kid there has behavioral or psychiatric problems and they hold themselves out as a professional school that provides holistic treatments."

The lawsuit states that at the time of the incident, there were no trained security staff members on the premises.

When Pollack, the "on-call" administrator at the time, arrived at the Green Cottage, where Doe was staying, he left the bathroom, cursed at Pollack and went into his bedroom.

"The staff pushed the door to his room open instead of following the restraint procedures they were taught and went berserk," said Polan. "(Pollack) didn't read the file and he didn’t know anything about the child’s issues so things went from bad to worse."

During the incident, Pollack and Doe both sustained injuries.

"They punched him in the eye," said Polan. "I acknowledge that people need to be restrained, but people have to be trained in dealing with psychiatric patients and they aren't supposed to be punished for having those symptoms."

All three men are still listed as staff members on the Grove School website.

"It was obviously mishandled and I think it is really shocking that a child with psychiatric disabilities goes to a private residential treatment facility and ends up with the injuries he sustained," said Polan.

According to the Crisis Prevention Institute, an international organization that offers safe behavior management method training, nonviolent crisis intervention involves reducing the risk of injury, complying with legislative standards, minimizing exposure to liability and promoting care, welfare, safety and security.

Doe filed a separate lawsuit against the town of Madison when he was 17, after the arrest, when his name was released on an adult arrest log. That suit is pending.

Contact Alexandra Sanders at 203-789-5714. Follow us on Twitter @nhregister.


© Copyright 2011 New Haven Register, a Journal Register Property & part
of Journal Register CT

40
Tacitus' Realm / Marijuana Prohibition Leads to Death of Young Man
« on: August 06, 2011, 10:06:41 AM »
From the Marijuana Policy Project blog:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

MPP blog

Marijuana Prohibition Leads to Death of Young Man

by Robert Capecchi
August 3, 2011


On July 2, Eric Perez turned eighteen. On July 10, his family mourned his untimely death.

Mr. Perez suffered a medical emergency while being held at a detention center in Florida. Despite vomiting and crying for help, Mr. Perez was left to suffer for over six hours before receiving medical attention. Tragically, by the time he was seen by emergency personnel, it was too late. So what was Mr. Perez doing in a detention center to begin with? The non-violent act of possessing a small amount of marijuana.

On the night of June 29, three days before his eighteenth birthday, police stopped Mr. Perez for riding his bicycle without a night-light. Police searched Mr. Perez and found the marijuana. Mr. Perez was on probation for a "years old" robbery charge and was cuffed and sent to a detention center. It was in this detention center that he breathed his last breath.

Let's engage in a thought experiment here. Say Florida had a taxed and regulated system of marijuana distribution for adult, non-medical use. In that scenario, Mr. Perez is never arrested for possessing a small amount of a relatively harmless drug. He may even be praised for choosing to ride his bicycle as opposed to driving a car. Perhaps he's given a ticket or sent to drug education for underage possession of marijuana. Either way, in this hypothetical, Mr. Perez is not in jail during his medical emergency, thus providing him a better chance of receiving prompt medical attention. Mr. Perez could still be alive.

Even a policy that simply decriminalizes the possession of only a small amount of marijuana would have been preferable. Fourteen other states have already removed the possibility of jail time for possessing a small amount of marijuana and replaced it with a simple civil violation. If Florida were one of them, Mr. Perez would have been given a ticket and sent on his way. Again, all indications point to the fact that had his medical emergency happened on the outside, he would have stood a much better chance of surviving.

Unfortunately for Mr. Perez's family, we do not live our lives in hypotheticals. Policy decisions carry with them very real consequences. When it comes to our current marijuana policy, those consequences tend to lean towards the tragic — lost lives, destroyed families, and government waste. Until we replace our failed marijuana policies with more sensible and less destructive alternatives, we will continue to see stories like Mr. Perez's.

Tagged with: death and decriminalize and detention center and emergency and Eric Perez and Florida and medical and possession and Tax and Regulate by the author


# # #

41
Hyde Schools / Hyde-DC splits from the Hyde Foundation
« on: July 23, 2011, 02:28:00 PM »
Apparently, Hyde School - DC has opted to sever their relationship with the Hyde Foundation. Does anyone know why?

Did someone at the Hyde Foundation step on some DC toes, to the degree that Joe Gauld did a few years ago (at the time calling for or necessitating an apology letter)?

42
Hyde Schools / Alexander Tyler, R.I.P. - "gun mishap"
« on: July 08, 2011, 04:52:46 PM »
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Obituary: Alexander Tyler / Former Ohio Wesleyan student killed in gun mishap

Jan. 20, 1990 - Feb. 27, 2011

Thursday, March 10, 2011
By Sally Kalson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Alexander Tyler, 2009 photo

Alexander Tyler, who grew up in Pittsburgh to become a "beloved rascal" among his friends and classmates at Ohio Wesleyan University, died Feb. 27 of an accidental gunshot wound to the head.

Mr. Tyler, 21, was taking a semester off classes. He was with a group of friends at his off-campus apartment in downtown Delaware, central Ohio, when the gun he was handling reportedly went off. His roommate, Shahryar Khan, told a 911 dispatcher that Mr. Tyler thought the weapon was unloaded.

Preliminary autopsy results supported accidental death, but Delaware Detective Sgt. John Radabaugh said the final results could take six weeks.

Mr. Tyler grew up in Oakland with his father, John Tyler, and sister, Christina. His mother, Gabrielle Tyler, died in 1997.

He attended the former Homewood Montessori school from kindergarten through seventh grade, completed eighth grade at the former Frick International Studies Academy and earned his high school diploma from the Hyde School in Bath, Maine.

Following graduation, he spent a year working at a series of odd jobs in Providence, R.I., then enrolled at Ohio Wesleyan University in the fall of 2009. He became an active member of Sigma Chi fraternity and made many friends on campus, said his roommate.

"Alex was very honest and genuine, always cracking jokes and very loyal," said Mr. Khan. "He was the kind of friend who would carry me on his back if my feet gave out."

Unsure of where his liberal arts education was leading, Mr. Tyler left school after three terms to figure out his next step. He was interested in law enforcement, said his father, and had talked about joining the FBI. Meanwhile, he was working at a firing range and remained friends with his classmates and fraternity brothers.

The university held a memorial service in honor of Mr. Tyler on March 1, with some 300 mourners jammed into the campus center. About a half-dozen friends and faculty members spoke, as did the university chaplain, the Rev. Jon Powers, who called Mr. Tyler a "beloved rascal."

The Delaware Gazette said that he was recalled as "an emotional and genuine person who excelled at basketball, soccer and speaking French. Those characteristics made him sometimes headstrong and confrontational, but overall he was charismatic, loyal and caring."

At the end of the service, Mr. Tyler's fraternity brothers laid white roses on a makeshift altar.

In addition to his father, Mr. Tyler is survived by his sister, Christina Tyler of Los Angeles, and stepmother, Michele Tyler.

His father said there will be another memorial service in Providence, R.I., and that his son will be cremated.

Sally Kalson can be reached at [email protected] or 412-263-1610.

First published on March 10, 2011 at 12:00 am


Copyright ©1997 -  PG Publishing Co., Inc.

43
Elan School / 32+ Acre Waterfront Campus for sale - $1M
« on: June 27, 2011, 10:08:18 AM »
Thanks to Reddit TroubledTeens for originally posting a link to this Craigslist listing on FB!

Aerial pic of property at the link.

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

Former Elan School- 32+ Acre Waterfron Campus (Poland)

Date: 2011-06-22, 3:29PM EDT
Reply to: [email protected]


Located on Upper Range Pond, this stunning 32+ acre property consists of 10 buildings fully outfitted and ready to handle 150+ people. The main building consists of a large eating hall with a full commercial kitchen, and there are also several bunk buildings with bath and showers included, 2 classroom buildings, and an administrative building. Less than an hour from the largest city in the state yet the night skies will provide a spectacular view few have seen. The campground has large area for sporting events and over 470 feet of water frontage. Contact Craig Church for details. 207.774.7715

70 No. 5 Rd.
    * Location: Poland
    * it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 2456261356

44
Published online 27 May 2011 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2011.323

Terrorist 'pre-crime' detector field tested in United States
Screening system aims to pinpoint passengers with malicious intentions.

Sharon Weinberger

Planning a sojourn in the northeastern United States? You could soon be taking part in a novel security programme that can supposedly 'sense' whether you are planning to commit a crime.

Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST), a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) programme designed to spot people who are intending to commit a terrorist act, has in the past few months completed its first round of field tests at an undisclosed location in the northeast, Nature has learned.

Like a lie detector, FAST measures a variety of physiological indicators, ranging from heart rate to the steadiness of a person's gaze, to judge a subject's state of mind. But there are major differences from the polygraph. FAST relies on non-contact sensors, so it can measure indicators as someone walks through a corridor at an airport, and it does not depend on active questioning of the subject.

The tactic has drawn comparisons with the science-fiction concept of 'pre-crime', popularized by the film Minority Report, in which security services can detect someone's intention to commit a crime. Unlike the system in the film, FAST does not rely on a trio of human mutants who can see the future. But the programme has attracted copious criticism from researchers who question the science behind it (see Airport security: Intent to deceive?).

From fiction to fact

So far, FAST has only been tested in the lab, so successful field tests could lend some much-needed data to support the technology. "It is encouraging to see an effort to develop a real empirical base for new technologies before any policy commitments are made," says Tom Ormerod, a psychologist in the Investigative Expertise Unit at Lancaster University, UK. Such testing, he adds, could lay the groundwork for a more rigorous randomized, controlled, double-blind study.

According to a privacy-impact statement previously released by the DHS, tests of FAST involve instructing some people passing through the system to carry out a "disruptive act". Ormerod questions whether such role-playing is representative of real terrorists, and also worries that both passengers and screeners will react differently when they know they're being tested. "Fill the place with machines that go ping, and both screeners and passengers start doing things differently."

In lab tests, the DHS has claimed accuracy rates of around 70%, but it remains unclear whether the system will perform better or worse in field trials. "The results are still being analysed, so we cannot yet comment on performance," says John Verrico, a spokesman for the DHS. "Since this is an ongoing scientific study, tests will continue throughout coming months."

Some scientists question whether there really are unique signatures for 'malintent' — the agency's term for the intention to cause harm — that can be differentiated from the normal anxieties of travel. "Even having an iris scan or fingerprint read at immigration is enough to raise the heart rate of most legitimate travellers," says Ormerod.

Steven Aftergood, a senior research analyst at the Federation of American Scientists, a think-tank based in Washington DC that promotes the use of science in policy-making, is pessimistic about the FAST tests. He thinks that they will produce a large proportion of false positives, frequently tagging innocent people as potential terrorists and making the system unworkable in a busy airport. "I believe that the premise of this approach — that there is an identifiable physiological signature uniquely associated with malicious intent — is mistaken. To my knowledge, it has not been demonstrated," he says. "Without it, the whole thing seems like a charade."

As for where precisely FAST is being tested, that for now remains a closely guarded secret. The DHS says that although the first round was completed at the end of March, more testing is in the works, and the agency is concerned that letting people know where the tests are taking place could affect the outcome. "I can tell you that it is not an airport, but it is a large venue that is a suitable substitute for an operational setting," says Verrico.


© 2011 Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited.

45
Hyde Schools / Charter school 'Character Virus' now in Florida
« on: June 24, 2011, 10:41:40 PM »
So... Hyde School has always targeted certain geographical pockets of the U.S. population, market strongholds so to speak, and Florida has always been one of them.

Part of that has to do with the fact that it's always easier to indoctrinate someone else when you're already indoctrinated yourself. "The power of belief," as they say, or something close to that.

Well, there's a new charter school in town, if you're currently ensconced in the Orlando area, and it's brought to you via the dedication and due diligence and, some might say, the cultic fervor of HAPA - otherwise known as the Hyde Alumni and Parent Association.

Take a coupla Hyde parents who are bit by the bug, and who are politically well placed and powerful enough to pull it off, and there ya go:


    Central Florida Leadership Academy
     P.O. Box 1549
    Orlando, FL 32802

    (407) 480-CFLA (2352)[/list]

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