The James Logan Courier

By Kayleen Garingan, Courier Staff Writer

Recently Logan seniors found out that their graduation date has changed yet again. Instead of graduation being on June 6 as planned, the New Haven Board of Trustees, lead by President Michelle Matthews, moved the graduation ceremony to June 9.

That moves the graduation from a Wednesday night to Saturday morning at 9 a.m.

For some, the change upsets already made plans.

By Zohal Sharif, Courier Staff Writer

A hate crime that broke the hearts of many faithful members of the St. Anne’s Church was discovered around 7am on Ash Wednesday, February 22nd. The vandalism was discovered by Peter Petit, who arrived early Wednesday morning to assist with a Mass. “Emotionally very disturbing and appalling being that this is a day of repentance,” Petit said.

Police say vandals destroyed a cross and spray painted the word “Satan” and other graffiti on the walls of the Catholic church in Union City. “My gut feeling is that it might be local kids,” said police Cmdr. Ben Horner, “They were going for shock value, and they certainly achieved that.”

By Rick La Plante, New Haven Schools Director of Parent and Community Relations

The Board of Education on Tuesday night called for a measure to be placed on the June 5 ballot that would raise approximately $3 million to help offset the ongoing cuts being forced on the District as the state continues to reduce support for public education.

“To support high-quality local elementary, middle and high school education to prepare students for college and careers with outstanding core academic programs in reading, writing, math and science and highly qualified teachers and classified staff,” voters will be asked to approve a parcel tax of $180 per year. Exemptions would be available for senior citizens and the disabled, a citizens’ oversight committee would review spending, and no money from the tax could be used to pay administrators’ salaries. All funds would stay in local schools, and the measure – which requires a two-thirds majority to pass – would expire after four years.

By Candace Laxamana, Courier News Editor

A Logan math teacher accused of threatened a student has been cleared, according to New Haven spokesman Rick La Plante.

Logan Math teacher Robert Eppler was due in a Fremont courtroom this afternoon to face accusations that he made credible threats of physical harm against a student. Instead the District Attorney's office dropped the charges.

Eppler was arrested on campus Wednesday at 1:55 p.m. on charges of violating California Penal Code 422 f.

California Penal Code 422 PC defines the crime of "criminal threats" as when someone threatens to kill or physically harm someone and the person threatened is placed in a state of reasonably sustained fear for his safety or for the safety of his immediate family. The threat must be specific and unequivocal and communicated verbally, in writing or using an electronic device.

Eppler was placed on administrative leave following his arrest, according to school officials.

By Rebecca Trounson
Los Angeles Times (MCT)

LOS ANGELES — California and the Western United States are leading a nationwide surge in interracial marriage, according to a new study that paints a picture of a broadly diversifying nation, one where color lines are blurring and old taboos fading.

One-fifth of all recent weddings in the western United States were between people of different races or ethnicities, said a report being released Thursday by the Pew Research Center. Nationwide, 15 percent of recent marriages were interracial, researchers found.
"In the space of half a century, intermarriage has evolved from being illegal to taboo to being merely unusual, and with each passing year, much less unusual than it used to be," said Paul Taylor, director of Pew's social and demographic trends project, which produced the study.

By Kayleen Garingan, Courier Staff Writer

Last month, film maker Sara Strahan and curriculum developer Diane Moroff came to James Logan High School with a film crew to interview and film Logan Social Science Teacher Kim Petitt’s first period World Literature class to promote a new way of grading students. In order to promote the “newer” grading system they took over the class and asked Petitt to lead a discussion about the effects of the new grading scale, which emphasizes what students know rather than how they got to know it, and and how it changed the minds of the students and their work.

By Kevin G. Hall
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

WASHINGTON — Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping arrives in the United States on Monday for a high-profile visit where he'll be honored as if he were the president of China — the post he's expected to take next year.

Xi Jinping, 58, is to assume leadership of the Communist Party later this year, a final rung before ascending to the top of the political ladder in March 2013. And with China now firmly positioned as the world's second-largest economy and closing fast, the relationship between the United States and China has become more important than ever in the past decade.

As such, the eyes of two countries will be on Xi this week as he tries to pass leadership tests on each side of the Pacific.

Courier Staff Photo
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Most of Logan's seniors stayed after school Wednesday to sit for the annual Senior panoramic picture, snapped in Judson E. Taylor Stadium by photographers from Prestige Portraits in Hayward and Lifetouch School Portraits . Seniors were asked to show up at 1:50 p.m, but straddlers were still climbing the stairs into the home side stands well after that. Once everyone was in the stands, getting everyone properly positioned and posed took several more minutes. House One Principal Francis Rojas, Logan's former activities director, warned that any hand signals, removed shirts or other unseemly behavior would result in the offending students' images being blotted out of the picture.

By Rick La Plante, New Haven Schools Director of Parent and Community Relations

The Board of Education on Tuesday night received a presentation outlining student success at Conley-Caraballo High, the District’s continuation and alternative education high school.

Principal Mireya Casarez, accompanied by virtually her entire staff, told the Board that all of them share the belief that “every single student in the building, no matter how or why they got there, is headed for college.” The school’s small size, she added, enables teachers to “get to know” students in a way “most teachers wish they could but can’t.”

By Justyna Torres, Courier Supervising Editor

All over California this week, high school sophomores will be put to the test that can determine whether or not they will be able to graduate — The California High School Exit Examination,

The test, often shortened to CAHSEE, is being administered this week on Tuesday and today.

The CAHSEE tests sophomores on their skills in reading, writing, and math to ensure that they are proficient for their grade level, and, ultimately, graduation.

By Russell McLendon
Mother Nature Network (mnn.com) (MCT)

If you're planting a spring garden in the U.S. this year, you may want to set aside some extra seed money. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has updated its plant hardiness zone map for the first time since 1990, reflecting how some crops are moving north as winter grows warmer.
Despite all the long-term dangers associated with global warming, it does have a few short-term perks, such as helping some plant and animal species expand their range. And when life gives you lemons — which, incidentally, may now be easier to grow in Northern states — you make lemonade.

The Yomiuri Shimbun (MCT)

TOKYO — Japan and the United States are discussing the transfer of U.S. Marines stationed in Okinawa Prefecture out of the country ahead of the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station, government sources said.

The move comes as part of a review of a 2006 bilateral agreement on the realignment of U.S. forces in the country. Under the accord, the transfer of the Marines to Guam and the relocation of the Futenma station were supposed to be handled together.

By Malcolm X Abram
Akron Beacon Journal (MCT)

For 23 years, Don Cornelius hosted "Soul Train," "the hippest trip in America." For many young African-Americans and fans of R&B, soul and eventually hip-hop, the syndicated Saturday morning mainstay's tagline was the indisputable truth.

Cornelius was found dead Wednesday morning at his Los Angeles-area home of a gunshot wound, an apparent suicide. He was 75.

Back when Cornelius created the show in 1970, there was no MTV, no BET, no VH1, no record label-driven YouTube channels. There was just "American Bandstand" and "Soul Train."